Danny Phantom Post Planet
by Zachattack234
Summary: 6 Months have passed since the end of Phantom Planet. Danny is now 16 and everything in his life seems perfect. His parents have accepted his half ghost status, his identity is known all over town and he's dating Sam. But when an old enemy comes back in his life, Danny will have to put everything on the line to protect those he loves. This is Danny's life post planet.
1. Chapter 1

Danny Phantom Post Planet

16 year old Danny Phantom, half human, half ghost, all hero, was just about to finish his nightly patrol. He felt pretty good about himself. He caught 3 ecto-squids, a couple gangster ghosts, and of course, the box ghost. He yawned and looked down at his watch, it read 11:30 PM. Thankfully it was summer and school wasn't supposed to start for another couple weeks so his curfew was later than normal.

Danny was about 2 blocks away from home when he felt something painful hit his back.

"Aughh! What the heck!?"

Danny turned around and quickly found what hit him. Right behind him, about 40 feet away was a heavily armored ghost with green flaming hair and matching goatee pointing a pretty big bazooka at him.

"Skulker," Danny muttered. "Haven't seen you in a while, thought you had finally given up."

Skulker grinned. "Oh, I haven't given up yet ghost child. I still don't have your pelt lying at the foot of my bed."

"Ok, 2 years later and that image is still gross." Danny said, placing his hand to his forehead. "Look, I've had a long day and I'm tired. How about we just skip to the part where you jump in the thermos and I go to bed?"

Skulket cocked his gun. "Tempting, but I prefer the part where you surrender."

Danny sighed. Guess they were doing this the hard way. He held up his hand and pointed it towards the ghost. Danny fired a quick ecto blast that had knocked the bazooka out of his hands. Skulker tried to grab another one but Danny already held up his finger like a gun. He was smiling.

"Get in the thermos?" Skulker asked weakly.

"Now you're getting it." Danny held up his thermos and the ghostly energy forced Skulker into the thermos and he closed it. He stretched and yawned before landing on his front steps and transforming from Danny Phantom back to Danny Fenton. 6 months ago he would have gone invisible and phased into the house but ever since he helped saved the world and revealed his identity to his Parents and Amity Park, he didn't have to worry about sneaking around anymore. What was even better was that his parents had accepted him being half ghost.

Danny unlocked the front door and went inside. He desperately wanted to just go up the stairs and go to bed but he knew he had to empty the thermos into the ghost portal down in the lab. He walked through the kitchen and down into the basement/lab. At first he thought it was empty and his dad just left the lights on (Wouldn't be the first time), but upon closer inspection he found his mom sitting at the computer close to the portal.

"Hey Mom."

She glanced up from her work. "Oh hi Danny! How was the patrol tonight?"

Danny held up the thermos. "Not too bad, thermos is about half full." He walked over to the portal and placed the thermos in a circular slot on the panel. He pressed a couple buttons and within seconds, the thermos was empty. The ghosts back in the ghost zone.

"I just hope the Box Ghost decides to stay in the Ghost Zone for more than 24 hours this time."

"You fought the box ghost again? Doesn't he ever give up?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Not that I've seen. Ever since I first fought him, it's always 'I am the box ghost! Beware the power of corrugated cardboard!' It does get annoying after a while."

His mother laughed. "Then why do you keep fighting him? It doesn't sound like he's a threat."

"It's pretty good for stress release."

His mother looked at a family photo by the computer that showed the entire family. His father Jack, had taken up about 75% of the photo. "I could relate to that." She said.

Danny yawned again. "I'll bet you could. I'm gonna go to bed, I'm exhausted."

"Oh before you do, Sam called the house about half an hour ago. Nothing serious, she just wanted to check in on you and you weren't answering your phone. "

"Wait Sam called?" Danny pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sure enough, there was a missed call and voicemail from his girlfriend. "Damn it! I must have been fighting the ecto-squids when she called."

"Danny, you don't have to curse. Just call her back before you go to bed."

Danny absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair. His mom was right. He just missed one phone call. Wasn't the end of the world. "Good night Mom."

"Night Danny."

Danny left the basement and walked up the stairs to his room. He emptied his pockets of his wallet, keys and change. Finally he checked the voicemail on his phone.

"Hey Danny, it's Sam. You're probably out on patrol. I just said good night to my Grandmom and wanted to see how you were doing out there. Nothing major. Talk to ya soon. Sam."

Danny smiled. 6 months ago, he and Sam had finally had enough of dancing around their feelings and became a couple. Danny felt that they made the transition from best friends to couple really well and it helped that they made a great team in everything they did.

He dialed her number, the only one in his phone that he actually had memorized. It rang for about 10 seconds before she answered. "Hey Danny."

"Hey Sam. Sorry I missed your call. I was fighting some ecto-squids. Phone must have been on silent."

"It's ok Danny, I figured as much. I just wanted to check in since I wasn't out there with you tonight."

"Glad to know you worry about me."

Sam laughed. "Of course I worry about you Danny, you're better and more experienced than you were two years ago but I'm your girlfriend and I think I have the right to be worried every once in a while."

Danny felt his heart melt a little bit. Sam was right. He was much better at fighting ghosts than when he had just gotten his powers but that didn't mean that he couldn't be hurt by some kind of new threat.

"Thanks for worrying about me." Danny said, "I really do appreciate it."

"No problem. I also wanted to know what you were doing tomorrow."

Danny thought about it for a minute. Tommorow was Friday. Not much going on except for the gym in the morning with Dash and patrolling the streets at night. "My afternoon's free. Want to have lunch at the Nasty Burger after I'm done at the gym?"

"Sure, meet up at 12:30?"

"Sounds good." Danny yawned again. It was after midnight at this point and the sleep threatened to take over his body.

"Woah, you sound really tired. Get to bed Danny."

"Yes Ma'am. Good night."

"Good night."

Danny turned off the phone, set the alarm and plugged it into the charger on his bedside table. Then he turned off the lights and crawled into bed. He was asleep within a few minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny Phantom Post Planet

Chapter 2

Danny had managed to have a pretty good night's sleep before his alarm woke him up at 8:30 the next morning. Why did he bother setting an alarm during summer vacation? He grumbled and moaned as he reached for the alarm and turned it off. He sat up and stretched working the kinks out of his body from the night before.

He grabbed his phone and unplugged it from the charger to look at his schedule for the day. He was meeting Dash at the Gym in about an hour and of course there was lunch with Sam at the Nasty Burger at 12:30. After lunch he was probably going to wind up hanging out with Sam all afternoon, not that he minded. Any time he got to spend with Sam was good time as far as he was concerned.

Danny got up and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. He turned on the news on the radio in the bathroom while he showered. "In local news today," said the broadcaster, "Local Hero Danny Phantom was spotted last night doing his usual patrol and protecting Amity Park. Those ghosts never stood a chance though did they Paul?"

"No way Linda," Answered the other broadcaster. "Now we go live to some Amity Park Citizens to hear their opinion on our hero." Over the next few minutes Danny heard from several people on the radio, most of them were praising him and his efforts. That made him feel pretty good. Then he heard the one voice on the radio that he didn't want to hear, Paulina's.

"Danny Phantom is AMAZING!" She had said. "But I know for sure that his alter ego, Danny Fenton, is amazing too. I mean I would be the one to know. I'm his girlfriend after all."

Danny growled into the water running down his body. 6 months ago, Danny and Sam started dating and Paulina seemed to be the only person at Casper High who took offense at this. This was about the 5th time this summer that Paulina had openly declared herself and Danny a couple and each time he had gotten more and more annoyed with it. He had picked Sam, what about that was so difficult to understand? Sam thankfully never seemed to mind though. She and everyone who went to Casper High knew that she and Danny were practically inseperable and that was the way Danny liked it.

Danny turned off the radio and shower and went back to his room. He changed into a red sleeveless workout shirt and white shorts. He was lacing up his sneakers when he heard a knock at the door. "It's open."

"Morning little brother." Danny looked up to see his older sister Jazz standing in the doorway, already dressed and holding her laptop. She was working on early college courses and had been doing nothing else all summer.

"Morning Jazz." He said grabbing a spare change of clothes and stuffing them his Gym bag.

"You see the news this morning?" She asked while he grabbed his empty water bottle. Danny responded by shoving the water bottle as hard as he possibly could into the bag. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"Why can't she take 'no' for an answer?" He asked Jazz, grabbing his headphones and phone off the bedside table.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "It's the popular girl psychology. You are now the most popular boy in your grade and since she sees herself as the most popular girl, that means that you two need to be together."

Danny slung the bag over his shoulder. Sometimes being a teenager really stunk. Two years ago, his raging hormones would have given anything to have Paulina publicly declare them a couple. But that was two years ago. Since he and Sam got together, he was happy, happier than he had ever been.

"Well Paulina needs to understand that I don't follow or care about popular girl psychology. I can date who I want and I choose Sam."

Jazz held up her hand defensively. "I'm just answering your question Danny. I don't agree with the psychology either, and I know that you chose Sam. Everyone at Casper High knows it and Sam knows it too."

Danny sighed. "Yeah I know. I just don't like people out there thinking that Paulina and I are an item."

Jazz put a comforting arm on his shoulder. "Have you told Sam this? Because if not, you should."

Danny looked at her. This was one of those times when he realized how much he was going to miss his sister when she went away to school. While she had gotten better at physically fighting ghosts, she had always been better at being emotional support for him.

"Thanks Jazz." His alarm beeped again. "Ooh, I need to get the gym. I'll see ya tonight."

Danny left through the front door, saying rushed goodbyes to his parents on the way out. He went down the street and waved politely to some people as he passed. About twenty minutes later, he got to the local gym located near Casper High. He had joined the gym four months ago and it was a great hangout for Casper Students.

Danny had begun workout sessions with Dash about 4 months ago. After Danny had revealed his identity, Dash had wanted to thank him for saving his life so many times. Danny had told him over and over again that it wasn't necessary but he kept on insisting on doing something. Sam was the one who eventually came up with the solution. Danny would let Dash be his workout buddy, let Dash help him out and coach him to get him physically stronger. It would be helpful in case Danny's powers ever shorted out. That had happened once before and Danny was not interested in letting it happen again. The only condition Danny placed on the whole thing was that Dash didn't bully him and all workouts had to be approved by Sam. Dash had agreed and actually turned out to be a pretty good workout partner.

He signed in at the gym desk and put his clothes away in the locker room before going to the workout area. He didn't see Dash anywhere though, he must have been running late. Danny slipped his headphones into his ears and plugged them into his phone. He might as well get some cardio in before Dash showed up. He chose the playlist Sam made for him and hopped onto a bike.

He had been pedaling for about 15 minutes before he felt a tap on his shoulder and he jumped out of his skin.

"Aggh." Thankfully though, it was only Dash.

"Geez man," Danny said pulling the headphones out of his ears. "Don't scare a guy like that."

"Sorry man. Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok." Danny said as his heart rate went back to normal. "Just walk in front of me next time ok?"

"Ok," He responded. "Look, I'm gonna stretch, give me ten minutes and we'll work on weights."

Danny gave him a thumbs up. He spent the next ten minutes on the bike building up a good sweat before getting down to meet Dash in the weight room. When he got there, Dash was adding weights to the bar for a bench press.

"How much weight am I lifting today?" Danny asked him, wrapping his headphones around his phone and putting it down next to the weights.

"About 35 pounds." He answered. "We want to keep you lean not bulked up so just focus on high reps with low weight. Let's start low with 40 reps."

Danny nodded and laid down on the bench beneath the weight bar. Dash stood behind him ready to spot him. He grabbed the bar and began lifting. If he was being honest, this was getting easier and easier to do. 4 months ago, he had difficulty lifting barely half the weight he was lifting now. After about 15 minutes, Dash helped him secure the bar back in its slot. Danny then sat on the bench and reached for his bottle of water. Dash added some more weight to the bar for his own workout.

"You see the news this morning?" He asked.

Danny wiped some water from his mouth with his hand. "I'm getting tired of being asked that question."

"Sorry man, I didn't know." He said, adding the last bit of weight to the bar.

"No, it's ok." Danny said, stepping off the bench and putting the water down. "I'm just getting tired of telling Paulina 'no' over and over again. Everyone else knows I'm with Sam, why won't she accept it?"

Dash laid down on the bench and Danny stood behind the weight bar to spot him. "She's not used to hearing 'no' trust me on that."

"I believe it. Any chance you could talk to her for me? She doesn't seem to be getting the message when I talk to her."

Dash lifted the bar over his head. "Normally I would but Paulina and I aren't really in the same circle anymore. Haven't been for a while."

"Sorry to hear that."

"No it's not your fault, it's hers. All of us got tired of her attitude. Like you said, it's clear you and Sam are together. Paulina actually wanted us to stage a ghost attack to get you two together. That was the final straw for me."

"How come?" Danny asked as he helped Dash set the bar back in its slot.

Dash sat up and reached for his own water bottle. "Because you're a real hero man. You've got better things to do than respond to a fake attack. Kwon, Star and I didn't think you would appreciate it and there was no way it was gonna put you and Paulina together."

"Thanks man. I do appreciate it."

They spent the next hour working with smaller weights. They only worked with weights twice a week per Sam's workout regimen. Dash was in agreement that they wanted to keep Danny lean. It didn't mean that they couldn't add muscle, they just didn't want him as bulked up as Dash and Kwon were. By the time they were done with weights, it was close to 11:30.

"Hey man, I'm gonna shower and head out. Lunch date with Sam."

"Sure thing Danny. See you Monday."

He high fived Dash and went to the locker room. Showered and changed into the spare clothes he packed that morning. Jeans and his usual t-shirt. Then he texted Sam to let her know he was leaving the gym and heading out for Nasty Burger. He also mentioned that he wanted to pay for today. Sam was a very progressive girl, it was one of the things Danny really liked about her, but there were times when she would gladly hit him for doing anything resembling chauvinistic. Today though, she seemed ok with it, even texting him her order after he left the gym. That probably meant that she had seen or heard the news report that morning too.

Danny reached the Nasty Burger at a little after noon and stood in line to order. The place was pretty busy for a Friday lunch rush. Danny waited in line and looked around for a place to sit for lunch but it was full. A couple minutes later, Danny reached the front of the line and was standing face to face with his friend Valerie.

"Hey Valerie."

"Hey Danny, what can I get you today? Usual Nasty cheese burger, fries and chocolate shake?"

"Yeah," he replied reaching for his wallet. "Can you add Sam's usual Vegetarian Soy melt and soy shake too?"

"Sure thing. Sam's letting you buy lunch today?"

"Yeah. I offered since she didn't go on patrol with me last night and we didn't see each other."

"And I graciously accepted." Said a new voice. Danny turned around to see who it was. It belonged to his girlfriend Sam Manson. Danny smiled. "Hey Sam."

"Hey Danny." She said, wrapping her hands around his neck. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you too." He said wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her into a kiss. When they had started dating, they weren't really good at the public displays of affection, but after a couple months of some awkward fumbling, handholding and missed kisses, they had gotten the hang of it and Sam, who had normally shunned most forms of physical contact now enjoyed every hug, every hand hold and every kiss.

"Love birds. Your order is ready." Valerie said, interrupting their kiss.

"Thanks Val." Danny said handing her the money and grabbing the food. "Sam, did you see anywhere we could sit?"

She shook her head. "It's completely full inside. Outside doesn't look too bad though."

"Do you want to sit outside though? It's pretty hot out."

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind, it's not that bad." Danny smiled again. This was another thing on the list of many things he liked about Sam. She was, for the most part, very easy going. Most girls would have demanded to sit inside a full restaurant on a hot day. Not Sam though, she only cared that they were having lunch together.

"Guess we're sitting outside than. Thanks Valerie. We'll see you later."

Danny and Sam walked outside and were able to find a seat under the shady canopy next to the front door. They began eating and talking about anything and everything they could think of. School, summer vacation, movies coming out, Tucker's job. Finally Sam mentioned the morning news report.

Danny paused in the middle of dipping a French fry in some ketchup. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I've told Paulina again and again that she and I aren't dating. I don't know how else to tell her."

"Danny, Danny," She said, placing a hand on his arm. Danny felt a warm and pleasant feeling deep in his stomach. "It's ok, I don't care what the media says about who you're supposedly dating. I know you're dating me and you know you're dating me. That's all that matters."

Danny placed his hand on top of hers. "Yeah, I know that. It's just, I'm really happy when I'm with you, happier than I've ever been and I feel like Paulina screws that up every time she opens her mouth."

Sam smiled at him. "Then just ignore it. Every time you act out like this, it just gives her the attention."

Danny pulled his fry out of the ketchup cup. "You've been spending too much time with my sister."

Sam laughed. "Maybe I am. There's something else I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Any news on Vlad?"

Danny's fist tightened underneath Sam's touch. All those warm feelings he felt before suddenly froze over. After Vlad Masters had been outed as a villain 6 months ago, he completely disappeared. All his assets were frozen, his credibility completely went down the toilet and because of that his companies went under. He also went to the top of the wanted list for both the FBI and Interpol. That wasn't good enough for Danny and his Parents though. They wanted to be the one to find him and make him answer for the things he did. As a result, they spent most of their free time following leads and trying to track him down.

"No. Nothing yet. Mom and I spent 2 hours in his mansion the other day. No leads on where he could have gone though."

Sam sipped her soy shake. "Well he can't hide forever. You'll find him at some point."

"Thanks Sam." He leaned in to kiss her again. Her breath smelled like her vegetarian soy melt and he didn't care. They were kissing for a few minutes before they broke apart but that was only because Valerie came out to see them.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Yea but it's ok." Sam said. "What's up?"

Valerie turned her attention to Danny. "You patrolling tonight?"

Danny sighed. "I was planning to. Any chance to catch a ghost from the Ghost Zone could be a new lead on Vlad." Sam had sighed too. The two of them weren't getting much time together due to the patrolling. Sam would sometimes come with him but when she did, she would always go home earlier than him.

"Well," Valerie said. "I was planning on patrolling tonight too. I thought I would offer to take over your route and give you the night off."

Danny turned to face her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, No offense man, but you look and sound really tired."

"I told him that last night." Sam said.

"Do I really look and sound that bad?" He asked.

"You definitely sound like it." Sam said.

"Well Valerie, if you're offering. You can take my route tonight, but you'll call me if you find anything too dangerous?"

"Promise."

Danny turned to his girlfriend. Guess they were going to get more than just the afternoon together after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny Phantom Post Planet

Chapter 3

Danny and Sam left the Nasty Burger and headed towards Danny's house. He had wanted to drop off his smelly gym clothes before going to the mall that afternoon for their date. Once they got to the mall, Danny asked Sam what she wanted to do. She just said that she wanted to check out the bookstore for some mythology books. They got there and Sam was immediately distracted. Danny didn't mind though, she was happy.

Danny left her for a few minutes to go to the bathroom and when he came back she was completely engrossed in a large and thick book. Danny just smiled. He walked up behind her, wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to his chest. In the six months since they started dating, Danny had gotten taller than her by at least 6 inches. She liked it about him though; she thought it made him look more handsome.

"Whatcha reading?" He asked, leaning his chin on her shoulder to look at the same page she was reading.

"'Guide to Norse Mythology.'" She answered turning the page to a section about Loki, the mischief god.

"He looks nothing like Tom Hiddleston." Danny noted. "I'm surprised you don't have a book like this already."

"This is actually the only major mythology book I don't have. I've wanted to learn as much as I could since the Pandora incident."

Danny nodded. Sam had always been better at the information side of the Ghost Fighting than he was. She had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of mythology and folklore that proved invaluable when he was fighting ghosts.

"How much is it?"

Sam closed the book and broke out of Danny's grip on her waist and turned around to look him in the face. "I can afford my own book, thank you."

Danny held up his hands as if surrendering. "I never said you couldn't. I just thought I would make the offer."

Before Sam could answer, they heard a loud scream followed shortly by a horde of stampeding feet. Danny ran out to the front of the store. It wasn't easy but he managed to flag down one of the mall patrons screaming for his life. "What's going on?"

"Ember McClain's gone berserk at the music store!" He shouted. "Wait a minute, aren't you Danny Phantom? Why aren't you stopping her?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm about to do?" He turned back to the bookstore to see Sam standing behind the doorway. "It's Ember, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Well be careful." She said, leaning forward to kiss him. He kissed her back. "Always am."

"Going Ghost!" A familiar ring of white energy encircled his body at his waist and then separated into two. One circle rose to the top half of his body, the other fell to the bottom half. Within a few seconds he had transformed out of his jeans and shirt and into his black jumpsuit, white gloves and boots. His hair changed from jet black to snowy white and his eyes changed from blue to green. He was now Danny Phantom.

Danny crouched and jumped into the air, flying towards the sound of the commotion. Ember had been pretty easy to find, just follow the loud guitar noise. He found her outside the music store. It was immediately clear why Ember was throwing her tantrum. There was a notice in the music store selling her old CD's for two bucks a disc. And judging by the window display, there were a ton of them left over.

Ember herself was inside the store, striking her guitar and sending energy wave after energy towards every stand that didn't have her music sitting on it. Danny turned intangible and flew right in towards her. He grabbed her under her shoulders and turned her intangible too. He flew the both of them out of the back of the store and to the outside parking lot. He tossed her a dozen feet or so away and turned visible again.

"Geez McLame. Damaging a music store for them not selling your music? You have officially been reduced to has been tabloid status."

Ember growled in response. "Can't you ever just leave me alone ghost boy?" She fired an energy wave at him from her guitar that he dodged.

"Yeah, normally I would but you've caused destruction of property so…" He shrugged his shoulders and powered up an ecto blast. "I'm gonna have to stop you now."

He fired a blast directly at her guitar. She somehow managed to dodge it and fire another energy wave, which grazed his right foot. Now he was a little ticked. He wanted this over to be quickly so he could get back to Sam. The frustration must have shown on his face because now Ember started taunting him.

"What's the matter Phantom? I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"

"Actually, you were." It wasn't Danny who spoke though. Sam had found them outside and was pointing a Fenton gun directly at Ember's back. Before Ember could do anything Sam fired a blast directly at her lower back and she lurched forward dropping her guitar. Danny grabbed it.

"Now how many times have we told you? If you can't use your toys responsibly, we're going to have to take them away. Haven't we told her this Sam?"

"Too many times to count Danny." She said. "I guess she really doesn't get the point."

"Guess not." Danny tossed the guitar behind him, out of Ember's reach and charged forward, throwing a punch that caught Ember right in the gut. Before she could recover, Danny threw a roundhouse kick that caught her leg and she fell flat on her back. Danny placed a foot on her chest to keep her from getting up. Sam walked up next to him, holding a Fenton Thermos.

Ember just groaned. "Ugh. There's nothing worse than being punished by boring parents."

Danny and Sam turned bright red. Sam finally opened the thermos to trap Ember inside but she put a lot of effort into focusing on anything but Danny. She put the thermos in her purse while Danny transformed back to Fenton. "Thanks for the assist."

"No Problem, it's why I'm here."

Danny smiled. "Sorry that it interrupted our date. Do you want to go back and grab your book?"

"Sure."

They backtracked back into the mall and went to the bookstore to grab her book. Afterwards they were going to check out the music store but that plan was shot down thanks to Ember. Danny wanted to check out the sports equipment store for a new workout shirt. It wasn't Sam's favorite store in the world but Danny liked asking her opinion on his clothes.

"Just stick with the red." She had told him after Danny had showed her 3 different shirts, Red, Blue and Black. "Really? I'd thought you'd go for the black for sure."

"Black looks good on me. You look better in red."

"Thanks Sam." He paid for the shirt and they went to the food court. Danny checked his watch. "It's 4:30, want to grab a bite?"

Sam shook her head. "Too early. You want to see what's playing at the movies?"

"I have a better idea." He said, interweaving his fingers with hers.

Sam raised her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"You want to rent a movie and have a movie night at my place? We can just order Pizza or something. Plus we need to put Ember back in the ghost zone."

"Sure, any reason why you want to stay in?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, I just like our in home dates better. Plus less chance of a ghost attack."

"Sure. Can I pick the movie?"

He kissed her forehead. "I'll take that as a yes."

About half an hour later Danny and Sam were walking through the front door of the Fenton household. Jazz was in the living room typing away at her computer. "Hey guys." She said when they had walked inside and Danny closed the door.

"Hey Jazz." They said.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Danny asked.

"Down in the lab. Still working on something Dad started this morning."

"Ok, Sam, I'm gonna empty the thermos and we can eat Dinner."

"I'll do it." She said pulling the thermos out of her purse. "I need to use the bathroom anyway." She kissed him on the cheek and walked towards the basement. Danny put two pizzas that they picked up earlier on the coffee table next to a couple of Jazz's textbooks.

"Hey Jazz. Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can I have the living room tonight? Sam and I are having a home date."

Jazz eyed the pizza boxes. "Depends, What kind of pizza did you get?"

"Vegetarian for Sam and Pepperoni for me."

"Two slices of the Pepperoni and the room's yours."

"Deal."

Danny walked to the kitchen to grab plates and sodas. Jazz followed him and grabbed one of each out of his hands. Danny plated some pizza for him and Sam while Jazz grabbed her pizza and left for her room before waving good night to Danny. Sam came up from the stairs a few minutes later and put the now empty thermos back in her purse. She took off her shoes and sat down between the coffee table and sofa. Danny took off his shoes as well and sat down next to Sam.

"What movie do you want to watch first?"

"How about Dead Teacher III?"

Danny put the movie on and turned off the lights. They ate a few slices of Pizza and halfway through the movie, Sam had moved closer to Danny and he lifted his arm so they could cuddle. They reached the end credits but were so comfortable that they didn't want to get up. Sam suggested they change the movie and Danny reluctantly got up and switched the discs for the new movie.

Danny must have been more tired than he thought though because he was asleep within the first hour of the film. Sam quickly woke him up though with kissing him on the cheek. That always seemed to work on him.

"Sorry about that." He said, scratching the back of his head.

Sam laughed and snuggled closer to him. "It's ok. Just don't let it happen again."

"No problem."

A few minutes later, they were interrupted again but this time it was Danny's phone with a text message. Danny sighed and grabbed the phone. The message was from Valerie. "You need to call me now."

Danny raised his eyebrow. "Who's it from?" Sam asked.

"Valerie. She wants to me to call her. Hopefully things are ok." He dialed the phone and Valerie answered within seconds.

"Hi Val, Everything ok?

"No, you need to get to Main Street now!"

"Why what's up?"

"Danny, it's Vlad."


	4. Chapter 4

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter four

Danny immediately got back up off the floor and rushed to the doorway of the basement.

"MOM!"

His mother and father ran up the stairs as quickly as they possibly could. They were still dressed in their lab equipment. His dad was still holding a very large wrench. His mom pulled her goggles off her face.

"Danny what is it?"

"I just got a call from Valerie. Vlad is back and he's on Main Street! I'm heading out there now!"

His father threw the wrench he was holding down the stairs and pulled off his work gloves. Ever since Vlad had betrayed Jack, Jack was just as determined to make him pay for his crimes as Danny and Maddy were. "Get down there." Maddy put her hands on Danny's shoulders. "Be careful Danny. And don't do anything reckless."

Danny nodded and rushed towards the front door. He was about to transform and leave when he noticed Sam standing next to the coffee table and holding her phone. He rushed over to her.

"You better get over there. I've already called Tucker and let him know. He's calling the police now." She said.

"Thanks. Sorry our date got interrupted again."

Sam waved her hand like she was saying it wasn't a big deal. "It's ok. We both knew that there were going to be nights like this when we started dating. Just beat Vlad."

Danny smiled. "You got it. Goin' Ghost!" He transformed again into the superhero Danny Phantom and flew out of the house as fast as he could go. The house wasn't too far from Main Street and Danny was able to get there pretty quickly. The last time he faced Vlad, his top speed had been 112 MPH. But that was six months ago, since then Danny hadn't just spent time building up his biceps. His mom and Sam had been helping build up his ghost powers as well. One of the things they focused on was his speed. He had been gradually getting faster and after 6 months of training, his top speed was close to 150 MPH.

Within a few minutes he was there and it was clear that there had been a fight going on. Several smoking craters were on the street and he knew that they definitely weren't there before. He followed the craters until he caught up with Valerie and Vlad. Valerie was firing blast after blast at Vlad and not really making any progress at bringing him down. The police weren't on the scene yet either. Danny turned invisible and placed a communicator from his pocket in his ear.

"Talk to me Valerie. What's going on?"

"He showed up out of nowhere Danny." She said. To her credit, she was great at multitasking. She kept her focus on Vlad while only giving Danny the info that he needed. "I found him near City Hall. He just phased out but didn't have anything."

"Ok, keep firing on him. I'm gonna stay invisible and circle around his back. Maybe we can trap him."

"Roger."

Danny flew forward past Valerie and changed direction once he was a good 20 yards behind Vlad. He angled himself to make sure he was directly behind him. Next, he stopped his momentum completely and waited until Vlad was within arm's reach. He reached out and grabbed each of Vlad's arms with each of his own. He put pressure on the ghost's arms and forced each one behind the back. Danny smiled. After six months, he had his archenemy in a tight hand lock. Vlad wasn't going anywhere.

"What the hell?!" Vlad exclaimed.

Danny turned visible again and kept his grip on Vlad's arms. "How's it going Uncle Vlad?"

"Ahh Daniel." Vlad smiled, "I was hoping to see you again."

Danny threw a kick into Vlad's chest and he groaned in pain. "Feeling's mutual."

"Now, now, is this treatment really necessary?"

Danny responded by shoving him face first into a nearby building. Vlad groaned with more pain and a drip of a dark red substance began sliding down out of the corner of his mouth. By now Valerie had caught up with them and immediately pointed her gun at Vlad. Danny may have had locked his hands but they didn't want to take any chances.

"Time for you to answer some questions Masters." Valerie said, moving around on her hoverboard to make sure she wasn't going to hit Danny by mistake.

"Exactly." Danny said. "You've been gone six months, everyone on Earth knows the monster that you are. Why show your face now?"

Vlad just laughed. "Oh Daniel, Valerie. It wouldn't be very sporting of me to reveal my plan to you. Afterall, you've both proven yourselves to be smart and capable ghost fighters. Well at least, one of you has." He said indictating Valerie.

Even though Valerie was wearing her hood and visor, Danny could tell that the comment got under her skin. She pumped her gun. "Say that again Masters. I dare you!"

"Don't lose your cool Valerie." Danny said turning his attention back to Vlad. He was afraid of this. Once it was revealed that Vlad had just been using Valerie as a pawn to distract Danny from his ghost fighting duties, she had moments of extremist behavior. Like she had to prove that she was just as good at fighting ghosts as Danny, Sam and everyone else was. Danny and Sam had helped her through it, but Vlad was still a sore subject for her, just like the rest of them.

Valerie still held her gun towards Riker but she seemed to calm down. "You're right Danny."

"Let's do things this way Uncle Vlad." He said, turning his attention back to Vlad and tossing his knee into the guy's back for good measure. "You tell us what you were doing at City Hall and we let you decide who we turn you over to; The FBI or Interpol. Both have been looking for you since you left."

"Sounds tempting but…" Danny realized what Vlad was going to do a split second before he did it. Vlad's hands began to glow with purple energy and he was able to barely dodge the blast. If he hadn't, the energy blast would've hit him directly in the chest. Unfortunately this meant he had to let go of Vlad's arms. "I prefer freedom Daniel."

He phased himself into the building Danny was just holding him up against. He turned to Valerie. "I'm going in after him. Stay out here in case he comes out."

Valerie nodded and Danny phased through the building. Vlad could have stayed invisible, in which case tracking him would've proven close to impossible. But just close to it. Danny noticed something on the floor, glittering against the moonlight coming in from the window. He knelt down to see what it was. It was a drop of his blood from when Danny had slammed him against the building. It wasn't the only drop of blood there either, there was a trail of it leading upstairs to the roof.

"Danny, you need to come back out here!" Valerie said through his comm. "He's outside and heading back to City Hall."

Danny cursed and phased out of the building again. He saw Valerie shooting at Vlad and missing over and over again. Vlad was either really fast or something was wrong. Danny sped forward charging his hands with blue energy as he went.

"Val get back!"

Valerie hit the brakes on her board and Danny flew right past her. He splayed his hands forward and released all the energy he had been storing in his hands for a single blast. The energy blast hit Vlad square on freezing him in place in a large and very solid block of ice. He landed next to Vlad and caught his breath. Using a large ice blast like that really took it out of him.

"Nice shooting tex." Valerie said landing next to him and dismounting from her board. "Why didn't you use that earlier?"

"I thought I had him." Danny replied

"You still don't Daniel." Said a voice and the Vlad that Danny froze popped and disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving a large block of ice in the middle of Main Street.

"Damn it!" Danny cursed and he punched the block of ice as hard as he could shattering it into a million pieces. "He must have made a duplicate and slipped away from the building while we followed that thing."

"Sorry Danny. I saw him coming out the front of the building and thought it was him."

"It's ok." Danny said. There was no point in staying angry about this. If there was thing Vlad was good at, it was making duplicates and blaming Valerie or himself wasn't going to get anything done. Danny was about to double back and check the building with the trail of blood but he heard sirens getting closer. The police Tucker called were coming to the scene.

"I think that's your cue to leave." Danny said turning to Valerie. "I'll talk to the cops and give Tucker an update."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Besides I owe you for taking the patrol tonight."

Valerie got back on her board and waved good bye. She disappeared and a couple of squad cars pulled up next to Danny. The police were getting out of their cars when a third car bearing the mayor's logo pulled up. Tucker got out of the car, dressed in jeans and a dress shirt. Danny gave his statement to Tucker and the Police.

"Any idea what he may have wanted at city hall?" The police sergeant asked.

Danny shook his head. "No idea." He actually had no clue. After Tucker had taken office, Danny and his parents, along with the FBI did a VERY thourough sweep of the Mayor's office in city hall and the mayor's mansion outside of town. They had cleaned both out completely and confiscated anything remotely resembling ghost technology and all his personal items. Everything was taken to the FBI for study and his parents were still wading through the red tape to try and get a look at whatever it was Vlad was holding.

A second officer came to join Danny, Tucker and his colleague a moment later. "I found that trail of blood you mentioned Danny. CSI is coming to get a sample but the trail leads to the roof. He could be anywhere by now."

Danny felt his molars grinding against each other. This left too many unanswered questions for his liking. The biggest being why now? It had been 6 months. Why had Vlad made the decision to come back to Earth now when he must have known everyone would be on the lookout for him? He felt a sudden touch on his shoulder.

"You alright man?" Tucker asked him.

"Yeah just frustrated with this whole thing."

"Well I don't think there's much more you can do tonight. Why don't you head home? I'll call you if anything comes up."

"Sure." In reality, Danny didn't want to leave. This was the first solid hit he had on Vlad in months. He didn't want to let it go but it looked like he would have to. He said good night to Tucker and flew home.

20 minutes later, Danny had landed on his front steps and transformed back to Danny Fenton and walked through the front door. Jazz and Sam were sitting on the couch with cold pizza in front of them. His mom was there with them and his dad was pacing the room munching the last of Danny's Pizza. Sam was the first one to notice Danny and she rushed over to him and grabbed him in a hug.

"Danny you're ok!"

"Yea Sam I'm ok." He said hugging her back. She grabbed his face and looked him over. He grabbed her hands. "Sam I swear I'm ok."

"Just making sure."

Danny disentangled himself to hug his mother and sister. His father then came and trapped him in a bone crushing hug. "Dad, I thought we agreed on handshakes when I came home."

"Sorry Danny. Just glad you're ok."

"What happened out there Danny?" Jazz asked.

Danny recounted the story of how he had corned Vlad with Valerie's help and managed to pin him against the building before the bastard had tried to blast him and then phase through the building. He told them about how he found the trail of blood and he managed to just freeze a duplicate.

"What would he possibly want at City Hall?" His mother asked. "We cleaned that place out."

Danny shook his head. "I have no idea. All I know is that it can't be good."

"On that we can agree." His father said. "This settles it. Tomorrow I'm calling the FBI and we are getting to the equipment they confiscated! I don't care what kind of color tape they have."

"I agree with your father for once." Said his mother. "Maybe this confrontation with Vlad will expedite the process."

Danny yawned and looked at Sam. "Either way, we aren't getting anything done tonight. I'm gonna take Sam home and get to bed."

"Ok Good Night Danny." Jazz said hugging him good night.

Sam and Danny walked out through the front door a couple minutes later hand in hand, Sam wearing one of Danny's hoodies that he had grabbed for her. They had walked for a few minutes before Sam tightened her grip on his hand to get his attention. He turned to look her in the face.

"You sure you're ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm just frustrated with the whole thing. After 2 years of fighting him, I have no idea what he's thinking or could be planning. Someone like Box Ghost or Skulker, I can read like a book but with Vlad, I draw a complete blank. On top of that, he's still out there and I hate it."

"I know you do. But he showed his head once, he's gonna have to do it again."

Danny nodded. In a sense, Sam was right. The only problem with that was it took Vlad 6 months to show his ugly face the first time. How long would it take for him for him to show his ugly mug again?

"You know. I think you're wrong about Vlad." Sam said.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"Well Jazz and I were talking about this while you were fighting him and we've talked about him before. We don't think he's as complex as you think he is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well he's always wanted a couple things. 1 is world domination and that plan completely failed. The second is, and please don't get too stressed over this, but he's always wanted your mom."

Danny shivered. "Thanks for reminding me of that. What are you getting at Sam?"

"What I'm getting at is that, he likely came back for one of those two reasons. And I doubt it would be to get close to your mom. Otherwise he would've made a straight line for your house the second he got back."

Danny thought about what she had said for a minute. What she was saying made a lot of sense. Vlad had tons of plans and back up plans for taking over the world. With the resources he once had, he could have easily done it. Maybe he still thought he had something hidden away that could help him in city hall somewhere and once he realized it wasn't there fled and then bumped into Valerie. Sam probably thought the same thing and led him the conclusion. This was another reason he liked dating her. She was so much smarter than he was and was never in his face about it like Jazz had sometimes been.

"Why do you date me?" He asked. "You are way too smart for me."

She stopped walking next to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Because I like you dummy, that's why." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Sam's kisses had always had a unique effect on Danny. He had kissed other girls before, Paulina kissed him once as Kitty and Valerie kissed him once when they were dating and he liked those kisses but with Sam it was a completely different story. Every time they kissed, it felt like the world around him had disappeared leaving only him and Sam. It felt like nothing else mattered and whatever problems he had didn't feel big. Nobody else had that effect on him.

After a couple minutes they broke apart but it was only really because they needed to breathe. "Thanks. Looks like we're at your house."

Sam looked around where they were. "Looks like we are. Good Night Danny."

"Good Night Sam."

He watched her walk through her front door and saw her turning on the lights and waving good bye at him through the window. He waved good bye and transformed back to Danny Phantom for the flight home.

Once home, he walked into the living room to find Jazz cleaning up the pizza and putting things away. She looked up as he walked in. Once he realized what she was doing, he felt guilty.

"Sorry Jazz." He said. "I should have cleaned that up before taking Sam home."

"It's alright. Dad ate all the pepperoni by the way. There's only the veggie pizza left if you want any."

Danny waved his hand. "No thanks. I'm gonna put it away and go to bed." He grabbed the pizza box and walked to the kitchen.

"Any idea on what to do with Vlad?" She asked him as he opened the fridge and put the pizza away.

"Sort of. Sam gave me an idea on what he may have been after. I know he still has some contacts in the Ghost Zone. I may spend some time there tomorrow and try to get a better idea on what he's after."

Jazz nodded. "Just remember to stay in contact. You may have more experience with it than them but Mom and Dad don't like you going in there alone."

"I know. This isn't the first time I've been in there you know."

"Yeah I know. And one more thing Danny."

"What is it?"

"Don't obsess too much over this. You have a lot of good things going on. It's not worth sacrificing them for Vlad."

Danny nodded. "I know. I just want him put away so he can answer for what he's done and I won't have to worry about him coming after Mom or Dad or you or anyone else."

"Ok Danny, as long as you know what you're doing. Good Night Danny."

"Good Night Jazz."


	5. Chapter 5

Danny Phantom Post Planet

Chapter 5

Danny woke up early the next morning to get a hard start on his investigation into the ghost zone. He ate breakfast and went downstairs to basement. He was surprised to find that he was the second one in the lab. His dad was already in there working on what Danny assumed was the thing he had been working on the day before.

"Hey Dad. How long have you been up?"

His father looked up from this work. He looked like he had been there for days. They all knew that he could get obsessive about his work so this wasn't really out of the ordinary.

"Morning Danny. I've only been up for a few hours. What are you planning to do today?"

"I'm going into the ghost zone."

His dad froze on what he was doing and stood up to face his son. Even with the extra height Danny had gained over the last few months, he was still nowhere near the height his father was. It would have been pretty intimidating but Danny had ghost powers and Jack didn't.

"Why are you going to the Ghost Zone?"

"I'm going to chase down a lead on Vlad."

"Danny, you know your mother and I don't like you going to the ghost zone on your own.

Danny sighed. This was the reason he wanted to wake up early and get to the ghost portal before his parents were up. They had this conversation over a dozen times in the last six months. He knew that they would worry about him but they really had nothing to worry about. He had proven that he could handle himself in the ghost zone and real world. Before he could respond with this though his mother came down the stairs into the lab.

"Hey Jack, I had an idea last night. I'm thinking we should calibrate the sensors for Danny's…" She stopped midsentence when she realized Danny and jack were staring each other down. "Everything ok boys?"

"Your son wants to go into the Ghost Zone on his own today."

His mother looked at him. "Danny, you know we don't like you going in there."

"Yeah, I know. But I've been in there myself plenty of times and I'm chasing down a lead on Vlad."

That got his mother's attention. Both his parents wanted to catch Vlad as badly as he did.

"What kind of lead?"

"I'm not really sure it is one." Danny admitted. "But I know that Vlad had plenty of contacts in the Ghost Zone, I'm gonna spend my time tracking down a couple of them and try to get some info."

His mom studied his expression for a few minutes. She was clearly thinking it over. Hopefully he looked like he wasn't going to back down from this and they would just let him go and do what he needed to do. His mom stopped looking at him and walked over to a cabinet and unlocked it. She reached in, grabbed something and then walked back to Danny.

"Here," She said, tossing what she grabbed to Danny. It was a communicator. "It's 7 right now Danny. I want hourly updates on the hour and I want you back within 6 hours."

Danny transformed and put the communicator in his ear. Six hours wasn't going to be anywhere close to the time he would need to track down Vlad's old contacts. But it was honestly better than nothing. And he could always come back if he had to.

"Ok, I'm setting my watch. I'll be back in 6 hours." He walked in front of the portal and his father opened it for him. He waved goodbye and dove through. He wasn't even in there 5 minutes when he heard his mother's voice in his ear through the communicator.

"Testing, 1, 2, 3. Danny can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Mom. I'm doing fine and I'll check in at the first hour mark."

"Roger Danny and good luck."

Danny began floating through the Ghost Zone thinking about where he was going to go first. He had a couple of options so he went with the first and most obvious one. He flew off towards the Fright Knight's castle.

A little over a year ago, Vlad had made some sort of deal with the Fright Knight to help take down the Ghost King. It was possible that they kept in contact after the Ghost King was locked away again. At least that was what Danny was hoping for. Within half an hour he was at the castle and pushed his way through the doors. At first he thought the Knight wasn't home but then he found a figure sitting by the fire. The only sound he heard besides the crackling fire was a sword being sharpened against a stone.

"Hello Ghost Child." It said. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, well you haven't come out to my world so we haven't had much contact."

"To what do I owe the visit?"

"I'm looking for information."

"On what?"

"Have you had any recent contact with Vlad Masters?"

The Knight stopped sharpening his sword and stood up from his seat to face Danny. He looked angry.

"I don't see how that's any business of yours Ghost Child."

"Vlad has threatened both our worlds before. That makes it my business."

He sheathed his sword and walked back towards his throne. "The affairs of either world hold little concern for me. All I care about is having the opportunity to spread as much terror as I can."

"So you haven't had any contact with Masters over the last couple of weeks?"

"No. Now get out of my castle."

Danny flew out but he wasn't really convinced. Fright Knight could have easily been in contact with Masters at any point and pointed him to a portal. He wouldn't have put it past him. But since he didn't have any proof there was nothing he could do. Danny checked in with his parents and made his way towards his next stop; Walker's Prison.

In the 6 months since saving both worlds, Danny's relationship with Walker was easily one of the ones that changed for the better. As a favor to him, Walker had lifted the charges against Danny's friend Wolf and in return, Danny would keep Walker apprised of any wanted ghosts that showed up in his world. This didn't stop a lot of ghosts from escaping Walker's prison but at least Walker didn't want him in jail anymore.

Danny reached Walker's jail in close to 20 minutes and spoke to the guard asking to see the warden. After 5 minutes of talking on the phone, Danny was given a visitor's badge and was let in. He made his way to the Warden's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Said a deep voice that could only belong to Walker. Danny opened the door. Walker was standing behind his desk, holding a large rulebook. He even had another copy open on the desk. As soon as he noticed his visitor, he slammed the copy he was holding shut.

"You know making an appointment may not be against the rules. But it is good manners to make one ahead of time."

"Sorry about that. I'm a little crunched for time here. I only have a couple hours before I need to go back to my world."

"No harm done." He said, closing the second book on the desk. "I happen to have some free time. What can I help you with?"

Danny told him all about the confrontation with Vlad the night before and about his theories on Vlad still having a contact within the Ghost Zone. Walker listened to his story intently but Danny wasn't sure of how interested he would be or not. He was hoping that Walker maybe knew something or someone in the ghost zone that had been in contact with him.

"You're sure that Masters has a contact within the Ghost Zone?" He asked.

"Not 100%." Danny admitted. "But he's been known to make contacts here before. Chances are that would be someone in power. I wanted to see if you had any ideas or theories on this."

Walker didn't answer right away. He sat down at his desk and folded his hands in front of him like he was thinking about everything Danny had told him. As far as Danny could tell, this was a good sign. Walker generally didn't give advice but Danny knew he was a genius when it came to criminology. Sam may have pointed him towards Vlad's likely endgame but he still had no idea how he could accomplish it. Maybe Walker did. Nearly ten minutes passed before he spoke.

"I think you're on the right track with this theory of yours. The problem is you have no suspects. Plus how are you even sure Masters is getting help from this side? He could just as easily getting help from yours."

Danny sat down in the chair in front of Walker. He had a point. Why was he so sure that Vlad was using only ghost contacts to accomplish his goals? But that also meant he could be getting help from either side, both or neither. He groaned in frustration. This was just getting worse and worse. Looks like he had no choice but to wait until Vlad showed up again to get more information.

"Thanks for the advice Walker."

"Not a problem. Anything I can do to help? I'd like to have Masters in my high security section of the prison."

"Just keep your eyes and ears open and contact me if any info on Vlad makes its way to you."

"Sure thing."

They shook hands and Danny left. Now he was at a complete loss on where to go. He had no new leads and no ideas. He also had over an hour before he had to be back in Amity Park. He may as well just go home and ponder his next move. He flew back to towards the Fenton Portal and went through it back to his parent's lab. He transformed back into Danny Fenton and landed on the ground. He took the communicator out of his ear and handed it to his mom.

"Any luck?" She asked taking the communicator and putting it away.

Danny shook his head. "I have a couple lines out but I doubt that they'll catch anything. What about you mom? Any luck with the FBI?"

She looked just as disappointed as he was. "No. They keep telling me that they're still studying the equipment and they don't want to have any civilains looking at it until they are sure what it can do."

Danny shook his head. What a productive day this was turning out to be.

"I'm gonna go to City Hall and check in with Tucker. Maybe the police were able to find something related to why he was there last night."

"Ok sweetie." His mom said turning back to her work. "Dinner's at 6."

Danny waved in response and left the lab to go upstairs. He stopped in the kitchen to grab one of the leftover pieces of pizza from his date with Sam last night. He usually wasn't a fan of veggie pizza or veggie anything for that matter. But that had changed once he started dating Sam. Danny wanted to show he supported her vegetarian lifestyle so that meant that he was willing to try some vegetarian foods and restaurants every once in a while. Sam had appreciated it and it was something that brought them a little closer.

Danny finished his pizza slice as he left the house and made his way to city hall. In half an hour he was there and so were the police. They must have decided to continue the investigation on why Vlad was there last night. Danny walked up the front steps. The police officer standing in front of the building smiled at Danny.

"Here to see Tucker Danny?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Alright go in."

"Thanks."

One of the advantages of revealing his secret identity to the whole town was that most of the town was grateful for the work he did as Danny Phantom. They knew that he wanted to help and they were willing to assist, especially since they felt that Danny seemed to know what he was doing. Danny went through the building and checked in at the front desk. The secretary gave him directions and Danny went in to Tucker's office.

"Hey Tuck." He said once he was inside the office. The Police must have just finished searching the office. Furniture was out of place, some drawers were still open and Tucker was filtering through papers.

"Hey Danny." Tucker responded looking up from his work. "What's up man?"

"Not much. I just wanted to follow up and see if the police found anything in their search."

Tucker leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "Not a thing. And they turned this place upside down too. If Vlad had something here, it's long gone."

Danny sat down in the chair in front of Tucker's desk. "Great." He muttered.

"Do you have any plans on how you're gonna catch him yet?"

Danny shook his head. "No idea. Looks like I have no choice but to wait for him to show up again."

"Well, hopefully it'll be another 6 months or more before he shows up again."

Danny smiled. "Hopefully."


	6. Chapter 6

Danny Phantom Post Planet

Chapter 6

The next time Danny saw Vlad was the day before he was scheduled to start his junior year of High School. It was after dark and he was on his way home from Sam's house. They had just finished an all afternoon movie marathon at her house and they reluctantly agreed that it was time for Danny to go home and prepare for school. He was about halfway home when, by sheer luck, he noticed Vlad flying overhead towards his house. He immediately transformed and flew at top speed to intercept him.

"Going somewhere?" He asked.

Vlad didn't answer him. Instead he stopped flying and tried to cut around him. Danny blocked him. He tried going the opposite way. Danny blocked him again. They followed this pattern for a good five minutes before Danny got completely frustrated and fired an ecto blast at almost point blank range. Vlad dodged it by turning invisible.

"Really Daniel," he said, turning visible again, "It's poor sportsmanship to fire at an opponent like that just because you get angry."

Danny began charging another blast. "Yeah, cause you're a REAL authority on what's fair and what isn't."

He fired the blast and Vlad dodged it again. He started flying away from the house and towards the outskirts of town. Danny started chasing him, charging blue energy again as he went. He wasn't gonna let Vlad escape this time. He fired the blast and just like last week, Vlad was stuck in a block of frozen ice. Unlike last week though, the block was falling at high speed towards the ground.

Danny flew to intercept the ice and managed to catch it before it hit the ground. He put the ice down in time for another duplicate to disappear out of the ice.

"Are you kidding me?!" Danny shouted shattering the ice into a million pieces. These duplicates were really starting to annoy him. He transformed and walked home. He went through the front door and found his mother sitting at the couch reading a magazine. He guessed that she was staying up waiting for him to come home from Sam's.

"Hey Mom." He said.

"Hi Danny," she said looking up from her magazine, "How was your time with Sam?"

"Great but I ran into Vlad on the way home, or a duplicate of him."

His mom put her magazine down and walked over to inspect him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. He never even got a chance to hit me. I just wish there was some way to tell ahead of time if I'm fighting a duplicate."

"Maybe there is."

"What do you mean?"

"Just something your father and I have been working on. I'll need to make some adjustments to it, but I think I can make it work to track Vlad."

There were times where Danny truly forgot how smart his parents were. They were geniuses who could easily adapt their own technology and come up with entirely new technology to help him. Not many parents could do that. He said good night and went upstairs to bed. He wanted to be rested for school tomorrow. On the way, he passed Jazz's now empty room. Danny and Sam had said goodbye to Jazz that morning when she left for college. Going to Casper High without her was going to take some getting used to.

He got to his room and changed into pajamas while texting Sam to let her know about the second Vlad attack and that he was ok. They agreed to walk to school tomorrow and Danny would fill her in on the full details, even though there wasn't much to tell.

Danny's alarm went off at 6 AM the next morning and he quickly grabbed a shower before getting ready. Once dressed he grabbed some granola bars for breakfast and went out the front door to find Sam already waiting for him.

"Isn't the Boyfriend supposed to pick up the girl for a walk to school?" He asked, closing and locking the front door.

Sam folded her arms. "21st century Danny. A girlfriend can meet the boy once in a while."

"Sounds Good." He said, interweaving his fingers with hers and they began walking to school. On the way, he told her about the confrontation with Vlad the night before and that his parents were now working on some way to track him. Sam figured he must have been hiding somewhere and sending out his duplicates to do his dirty work. Danny thought the same thing, but there was still the major question of where the original was. Danny figured it must have been somewhere in town, except by now, the police had buffed up security at all edges of the city, except that wouldn't have helped if Vlad went invisible and just walked right past them. Their thoughts on where Vlad was didn't last long though. They had arrived at Casper High and picked up their new locker assignments and class schedules.

"Where's your locker?" He asked.

"422," She answered looking down at the assignment slip, "What about you?"

"495. At least we'll be in the same hallway. I wonder how many classes we have together."

They compared their schedules and were happy to find out that they had lunch together as well as science, history, gym and math. This was great since the classes they had together were not really their best and they could help each other out. They agreed to get to their lockers and meet up at the first class of the day. Danny reached his locker and put in the combination to open it. He began putting a few of his new notebooks away when he heard the voice that he was really hoping not to hear today, Paulina's.

"Oh hi Danny!" She said so sweetly Danny thought he would get a cavity.

"Hi Paulina." He sighed closing his locker shut. He then realized with horror that Paulina was closing the locker door located just to the right of his. Just great, she was his locker neighbor for the year. Sam was gonna love this.

"You never responded to any of my phone calls or texts this summer Danny."

"That's because they were all date requests and I told you multiple times that I'm dating Sam."

"Oh you were serious about that?"

Danny glared at her. "Yeah I was. Now excuse me, I need to get to class."

He got to the science lab a couple minutes before the bell rang. Sam had waved as he walked in and pointed to the seat next to her at the back of the class. The frustration with Paulina must have shown on his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Guess who my locker neighbor is."

Sam laughed. "It is kind of ironic though."

She was right about that. 2 years ago, heck even times during sophomore year, he would have given anything to have Paulina as his locker neighbor. But once he realized he had feelings for Sam, he was able to take a good long look at Paulina and who she really was. The result was a very shallow, very egotistical girl who only wanted to be attached to him because he was popular now. They didn't have time to discuss Paulina much further because class had started.

Most of the first day of classes at Casper High followed the same pattern. They would meet their teacher, get textbooks, a list of rules they were expected to follow in class and depending on the teacher, they would also be assigned homework. By the time Danny and Sam met up for their lunch period, Danny had homework for Science, Spanish and Math. Hopefully he wouldn't get any more homework and he could get some patrolling done tonight. After lunch, they had Gym together and then history. After that they wouldn't be seeing each other until meeting up at their lockers to go home.

After his last class of the day, English literature, Danny got to his locker and packed away the books he wouldn't need. Thankfully he didn't have any more homework, just another annoying conversation at his locker with Paulina.

"Do you want to walk home with me?" She asked.

"No thanks." He responded shutting his locker shut. "I'm walking home with Sam."

"Ugh. I don't understand why you would even bother spending time with her."

Danny was getting angry. Would he really have to put up with this all year? "I'm spending time with her because she's my girlfriend and she's been my best friend for years. I'm not explaining this again to you Paulina, so please just drop it."

He would have gone invisible to avoid her but thankfully he didn't have to. He walked quickly into the crowd of students and Paulina's voice was drowned out by the various noises and chatter made by other students. He made his way to Sam's locker but she wasn't there yet. She showed up a couple minutes later slinging her bag off her shoulders as she went.

"Sorry about that." She said opening her locker. "My last class ran long because the teacher wouldn't shut up."

"It's cool." He said. "I was wondering if you wanted to come on patrol with me tonight."

Sam slipped her math book into her bag. "Sure, but I want to get some homework done first and eat some dinner. You want to do the science and math work together?"

"Yeah, definitely. You want to go to your place or mine for homework?"

Sam put her last notebook in her bag and zipped it up. "Let's go to your place. I can call my grandmom on the way and let her know where I'll be."

They walked out of school holding hands. About 20 minutes later, they reached Danny's house and he grabbed drinks while Sam grabbed their books and looked at their shared assignments. They spent the next hour and a half, finishing both the homework they had for their shared class as well as the ones they didn't have together. They were finishing up when Danny's mom came walking in to grab something to drink.

"Hey kids." She said opening the fridge. "How was the first day?"

"Not too bad." Sam answered. "Danny and I have half our classes together. And we just finished our homework for tomorrow."

"Well that's good. What do you have planned for tonight?"

"Patrolling." Danny answered. "Sam's coming with me tonight. Hopefully she'll see something that I don't."

"Well be careful and Danny, curfew's in effect again, I want you home by 10."

"No problem."

Danny dropped his bag back in his room and they left for Sam's house. They dropped off her bag and grabbed some leftovers for dinner and went to the park to begin patrol. They stopped at a map for the park and marked where they would start patrolling. When Danny and Sam patrolled together, they would start at separate ends and work their way towards each other. It meant that they could cover ground more quickly and easily contact each other if they found anything.

"And remember," He said handing her a communicator and thermos. "If you see Vlad or anything too dangerous…"

"Let you know right away and find a safe spot." She finished taking the communicator and thermos from him. "I know the drill Danny."

Danny kissed her. "I know you do. I just like hearing you tell me that you know." He put his own communicator in his ear and transformed. "Let's meet back here in a couple hours."

"Sure thing." With that they went their separate directions.

One of the first things Tucker did when he became mayor was to set up a hotline accessible to all citizens of Amity Park in case a ghost was spotted. The hotline was linked directly to the Fentons who would then contact Danny. This was helpful but Danny wasn't the type of person who wanted to wait around for a call to let him know there was a ghost and besides he liked patrolling the streets. Especially on nights with Sam.

After about an hour, Danny was on the north side of the park when he heard Sam talking on the communicator.

"What's up Sam?"

"Danny, you need to get to the south side playground now."

"Why, what's going on?"

"It's Johnny 13 and Kitty. They're vandalizing the playground and picnic areas."

"On my way." Danny turned around mid air and flew off towards the south end of the park. Sounded like Johnny and Kitty were on one of their occasional date nights to the real world. That usually meant a lot of destruction. That must have been the vandalization Sam was talking about. After a couple minutes Danny found Sam ducked behind a tree near the playground. Johnny and Kitty were sitting on his motorcycle and driving donuts around the picnic area. Half the nearby playground was in ruins.

"Sam you ok?" Danny asked in his communicator. He saw her put her hand to the ear with the communicator in it.

"Yeah I'm good." She said. "I've been trying to get a shot at him but he's moving too fast."

"Ok. I'll find a way to bring the cycle down. Once they're down we can fire on them and get em in the thermos."

"Got it." She said and he turned invisible and flew closer to Johnny's bike. Sam was right, Johnny was moving pointlessly fast and running more donuts grooves into the grass. Danny decided to match his speed with Johnny's and then turned visible right next to them.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need you guys to slow down now." They both shrieked in horror at the sight of him and Johnny lost control causing the bike to go down. Kitty had actually fallen off the bike landed face first in a large pile of dirt. Johnny managed to gain a little control of the bike again but not enough to avoid sliding the bike into a tree. Danny floated over to him, folding his arms as he went to look intimidating. "Yeah that's what happens when you don't do what we ask."

Johnny stood up from the rubble shaking his head, his girlfriend completely forgotten.

"Come on dude." He said. "Can't you just let a guy have a peaceful night out with his bike?"

Kitty had now stood up, dirt covering half her body. She was glaring angrily at both boys. "What about me Johnny!?" She screamed.

Johnny began wringing his hands nervously. Danny had fought both ghosts before and he always knew that Johnny could easily forget about his girlfriend when his bike was involved. "You know I would never forget you Kitty. Just let me beat this guy up and we'll get back to our night out."

Danny landed and took a fighting stance in front of Johnny. "Yeah, when have you ever been able to beat me?"

Johnny charged and threw a punch at Danny which he blocked. Johnny threw a kick and Danny dodged it. Danny threw a couple kicks to hit him the chest. The kicks connected and Johnny backed a few steps back into the tree. With Johnny momentarily distracted, Danny turned his attention to Kitty and fight her if necessary but Sam already beat him to it. She was dodging blasts left and right while firing shots from her wrist gun. Danny couldn't help but smile with pride. Sam had been fighting ghosts just as long as Danny had and she could easily hold her own.

With Sam fighting Kitty, Danny turned his attention back to Johnny who was now trying to reach his bike. He fired an ice blast and created a wall of ice blocking Johnny from his bike.

"Really dude?" Danny said loud enough for Kitty to hear. "Trying to leave your Girlfriend behind while you escape? Not cool man."

Kitty definitely heard him because she had stopped fighting Sam and started yelling at her boyfriend. "Seriously Johnny!? You were gonna leave me behind?"

Johnny immediately went on defensive. "You've got it all wrong Kitty, I was gonna get the bike and then come get to you. Honest."

They continued arguing for about 5 minutes before Sam used the thermos to capture them. Johnny and Kitty didn't seem to notice though, they just kept arguing.

"Good job." Danny said.

"You too." She said.

Danny checked his watch. It was close to 9:30. "It's getting late. You want to call it a night?"

Sam yawned. Danny was pretty tired too. They had both been up since about 6 that morning. "Sure. We should probably let Tucker know about the damage they did too."

Danny surveyed the damage Johnny did to the park. "I'll call him when I get home."

"That's ok, I'll do it." She said, "You need to get some sleep."

Danny yawned. She was right and decided not to argue. With that he flew her home and then flew home himself. Right after transforming back to human, he collapsed and fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 7

Over the next few weeks, Danny's life had fallen into a noticeable pattern. He would wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, then go on patrol with either Sam, Valerie or his parents, come home and go to bed. He had fought Vlad a couple more times during the first month of school but the encounters never lasted long and they always ended the same way, with Vlad either disappearing or it would be a duplicate. Each time he fought him, Danny would get more and more frustrated. These attacks and encounters were completely random and Vlad was never the type of person to do something at random like this. He always had a plan in mind and Danny had no clue what that plan could be.

"Earth to Danny." Someone was saying.

"Huh?"

"Danny, I was asking if you were ok." It was Sam who was speaking. Danny must have been in some kind of daze thinking about his last fight with Vlad. Thankfully he wasn't in class but having his lunch period with Sam. Based on the clock, the period was almost half over and he had barely eaten.

"Yeah Sam I'm fine." He finally answered grabbing a bite of his sandwich. Sam raised her eyebrow at him.

"I can't hide anything from you can I?" He asked finishing his sandwich.

"Nope. So what's on your mind? Is it Vlad?"

Danny nodded. "I can't think of what his plan could be and it's driving me nuts."

"Maybe that's the plan. He wants to provoke you."

"You mean he wants to poke me with a stick and see what will happen?"

"Kind of yeah."

Danny poked at his bag of chips that he packed with lunch. Great, Vlad was just toying with him to see what his reaction was going to be and based on the frustration he was feeling, his plan was working. Before Danny could think about it anymore though, the bell rang signaling the end of his lunch period.

"You want to meet up at my locker after School?" Sam asked as they left the lunch room.

"Yeah, sure." He said slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Danny went to his next class still thinking about what Sam had said about Vlad. This just increased his frustrations with the guy. He was a wanted criminal, why would he just want to provoke him like this? He must have had dozens of other things to worry about like the guys in white, the FBI and Interpol.

By the end of the day, Danny was still angry about Vlad and he really wanted to go on patrol and find some kind of ghost so he could vent his aggression. He got to his locker and put away his books thinking about where he was going to be patrolling tonight when he saw Sam.

"I thought you were going to meet me." She said.

Danny sighed and zipped up his book bag. "Sorry about that. I've been in a frustrated haze all afternoon."

"Are you patrolling tonight?"

Danny slung his bag over his shoulder and shut his locker. "Yeah. I really want to find Vlad and teach him that it's not ok to poke at people, especially me."

"Well I've had an idea." She said grabbing his hand.

"What's that?" He asked interweaving his fingers with hers.

"Take a break. Don't go on patrol tonight."

"How's that supposed to help?"

"You're clearly frustrated and have been for a while. Look it's Friday night and my parents are away until tomorrow. Why don't we have a movie marathon tonight? Just the two of us, it'll help you keep your mind off things for a while."

Danny thought about it. On the one hand, he didn't like the idea that Vlad was still out there and he didn't like to think about what would happen if Vlad was flying around and didn't have Danny Phantom to poke at. On the other hand though, a movie night alone with Sam. They hadn't had a quiet night together that didn't involve homework or ghost fighting. How could he pass that up?

"It'll just be the two of us?"

"Well my Grandmother will be home. She's always there but she likes you and won't really bother us."

"Pizza for dinner?"

She smiled. "I could order some for us."

"Ok, let's do it. Just let me drop my stuff at home and tell my parents where I'll be. Do you want me to walk you home?"

She kissed his cheek. "No thanks I'm good. We'll have time together tonight anyway."

She waved good bye and Danny felt better than he had in a while. The good mood didn't last long though since he was confronted by Paulina, again. This was happening more and more frequently. Thankfully Danny was prepared for what she was going to ask.

"Sorry Paulina, I have plans tonight and I've told you that I'm not single."

"Oh come on Danny!" She said suddenly sounding angry. "I've given you more than enough time to get over this thing with what's her name and realize who you need to date."

Danny turned on her. He wasn't in the mood for this. "First of all, her name is Sam, she's my girlfriend and that's not changing anytime soon. Second I've already realized who I want to date and it's her."

Before Paulina could respond to this, Danny turned invisible and went flew outside of the school heading for home. He had to check with Sam if he was ever that bad when he used to ask Paulina out.

About fifteen minutes later, Danny arrived at home and the first thing he noticed was Jazz's car. She was away at school but she must have come home for the weekend. This would be the first time since the school year started. He walked through the front door and found her at the couch reading one of her text books. Figures, Jazz was the one person who would come home to do homework.

"Welcome home Jazz." He said putting his bag down by the front door and walking over to the couch. Jazz looked up from her work.

"Hey Danny." She said. "I've heard about Vlad from Mom and Dad. How are you holding up?"

"Ok I guess." He replied sitting down. "I've been frustrated as hell about this and I don't know what to do about it."

"That stinks. Do you want some help on patrol tonight? I could flex my ghost hunting muscles."

"Actually…" He told her all about his plans with Sam for that night and about how Sam had suggested that he take a break. Jazz thought it was a good idea and offered to keep an eye on the Ghost Hotline in case anyone saw something.

"Thanks Jazz." He said hugging her. "I'm gonna get ready. How about we go ghost hunting tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Danny grabbed his bag and dropped it off in his room before showering and changing for his in home date with Sam. He was slipping on a fresh t shirt when his mother knocked on his door. Danny told her where he would be that night and she said that was going be fine, she just reminded him to keep his phone on him in case of an emergency, ghost or otherwise. She also told him that they now had a way to track Vlad.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Your dad and I completed a scanning device that should be able to determine if you are fighting a duplicate. We originally made it to determine if we could locate an invisible ghost. We just need one thing to modify it."

"What do you need?" Danny asked. If this could work, it would make things so much easier to fight Vlad.

"We need a scan of your energy signature. Since you and Vlad are both half ghosts your energy signatures are similar. With the scan we can complete the scanner."

Danny checked his watch. It was close to 4 and he had his date with Sam to get to even if they never set a time. "Sure thing, how long will it take to complete the scan? I have a date with Sam tonight."

His mom checked her watch too. "Shouldn't take more than half an hour. When's your date?"

"We didn't set a time. Let me text her before we start and I'll be down in the lab in a couple minutes."

"Sounds good." She said leaving the room. He pulled his phone out and began texting Sam.

Danny: Hey, My Mom needs my help with something in the lab. I'll be over when I'm done. That ok?

Sam: Yeah. Just don't take too long ;)

Danny: NP

Danny smiled as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. A few minutes later he was down in the lab. His parents had everything set up for him. "Alright" He said clapping his hands together. "Let's get this done, I've got a date."

"No problem Danny!" His dad said very excitedly. "We just need a few scans of your energy signature."

"Sure thing. Where do you need me?"

"Right over here." His mother said pointing at a spot in the center of the lab. Danny went over to where she was pointing. "I need three scans of you Danny. One as normal, one in full ghost form and one in mid transformation."

"Ok, which one do you want first?"

"Normal."

Danny stood still while his parents took an exstensive scan of him as a normal human. After about ten minutes his mother asked him to turn to Danny Phantom for the ghost scan. After another ten minutes, they asked him to power down for the mid morph scan. This was the hardest scan to get as it was hard for him to really stop transforming once he started. But this was to stop Vlad so he would have to at least try.

It took longer than he wanted, much longer than the previous scans, but he managed, through sheer force of will, to hold a mid transformation for about a minute. He tried again but couldn't hold it much longer than that. After the second attempt at a mid transformation he nearly collapsed.

"You… get… the… scan?" He asked between breaths.

His mom checked their instruments. "Yes we did, barely. Hopefully this will be enough but we will let you know if we need any more scans. Go on your date Danny. We'll call you if anything comes up."

Danny walked upstairs, still breathing pretty hard. He grabbed a drink of water from the kitchen and found Jazz had moved her homework there so she could eat dinner.

"You ok?" She asked. "You look exhausted."

Danny explained about their parents' new scanning device that would hopefully help them track down Vlad. And he told her how hard it was to hold a mid transformation for the scan.

"How much homework you got left?" He asked.

"Not much but I was gonna take a break soon anyway. Why are you asking?"

"I was wondering if you could give me a ride to Sam's. I'd fly or walk but I'm still a little tired from the scans."

"Sure. Do you want a ride back too?"

"Don't think I'll need one but I can always let you know."

A few minutes later, Danny and Jazz were in her car driving towards Sam's house. He already texted her to let her know he was on the way and that he would explain what was going on when he got there. Jazz dropped him off and he waved good bye and rang Sam's doorbell.

She answered a minute later. She had changed clothes since they left school earlier. She was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a dark purple short sleeve shirt and matching socks. Danny suddenly felt overdressed in his shirt and jeans. Nevertheless he pulled her into a hug.

"Hey." She said giggling. "The pizza just got here and we're all set for the basement."

"Can't wait. What's with the sweat suit?"

"No real reason. I just felt like being comfortable."

"Well you look good." She pulled his face to hers and kissed him.

"Thanks."

He grabbed the pizzas while she grabbed drinks and glasses. They went to the basement and Danny noticed that she already had the movies pulled out and they were all his favorite titles. He felt confused, Sam didn't like half these movies and he knew it.

"Why only my favorites?" He asked putting the pizzas down on the counter and grabbing a slice of pepperoni.

She shrugged. "I figured watching your favorites would help you take your mind off Vlad."

Danny smiled. A night off from patrolling along with his favorite movies, favorite food and his girlfriend was going to be a good night. He was really glad he took Sam's advice and took the night off. He took a seat on the couch munching on his slice of pizza. "You're awesome! Can we start with Galactic Wars?"


	8. Chapter 8

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 8

Danny was beginning to feel that he had a good luck streak going. His movie marathon date with Sam went very well despite the fact that they fell asleep around 11 at night and they didn't realize this until well after midnight. Her grandmother had already called Jazz who covered for Danny so he could spend the whole night with Sam. The rest of the weekend was ghost free and Danny was able to finish all his weekend homework to be ready for school on Monday.

The next few weeks followed the same pattern, very little ghost activity except for the occasional fight with Skulker or the box ghost. This also gave him time to stay on top of his grades and prepare for his SAT tests that spring. His parents had also completed the work on the duplicate scanner and Danny had been taking it out every patrol and pretty much every time he left the house in case Vlad made another appearance. This gave Danny more time with Sam and he even got some hangout time with Tucker. Despite all this though, Danny was beginning to feel anxious. Vlad was still out there somewhere and he didn't like it.

"Maybe he's finally given up on poking at you." Tucker had said one Saturday afternoon at the Nasty Burger. "I mean he's got the FBI, Guys In White and Interpol on his tail."

"Yeah," Sam said. "He might not even be on Earth anymore. If he's smart, he's gonna stay away from you for a while."

"I guess." Danny said, nibbling on his burger. They had a point but it was still strange that Vlad would just show up and then disappear at random. Sam seemed to pick up on his mood because she moved closer to him and snuggled into his shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry about it." She said. "He shows up again, you'll be ready for him."

Danny couldn't help but smile. "Yeah you're right."

Tucker's watch started beeping. "Sorry guys, I need to get back to work. I'll let you know if anything Vlad related comes up Danny."

"No problem." He waved goodbye leaving Danny and Sam cuddling in their booth. After about ten minutes, Sam broke the silence.

"You doing anything tonight?" She asked.

"Not really" Danny replied grabbing the last French fry on his tray. "It's Saturday and even Mom and Dad aren't doing anything ghost related. I'm not doing any more homework this weekend that's for sure. My brain's turned to mush from the extra studying."

"That just means the work's gonna pay off." Sam said drinking the last of her Soy milkshake.

"I hope you're right about…" Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a shiver run down his spine and a wisp of blue energy left his mouth. His head began darting around trying to locate the ghost.

"You ok?" Sam asked.

"No, there's a ghost here. My ghost sense just went off."

"Nice to know you can find me Daniel." Said a voice coming directly above him.

They both looked up and Vlad had turned visible hovering 10 feet above him. Danny jumped out of his seat and transformed to face Vlad face to face in the air. By now the rest of the restaurant had noticed that Vlad was there and everyone was screaming their way towards the doors.

"I'm getting real tired of this Uncle Vlad. How about you do something useful for once in your life and just surrender?"

Vlad shook his head and folded his arms. "Sorry Daniel. I've been waiting a long time to see the two of you here at the same time."

"The two of us?" Now Danny was confused. He quickly glanced towards the kitchen and registers. Valerie wasn't there which meant that she wasn't working today. Plus once Danny thought about it for a couple seconds, Vlad couldn't have meant Valerie. When he first fought him again over the summer, it had been both Valerie and Danny fighting him. Who else could he have meant?

Danny's blood froze. He glanced down and saw Sam holding one of the doors of the Nasty Burger open with one hand and using his parent's scanner to scan Vlad with the other. Was this what Vlad was waiting for the whole time? For Sam and him to be together at the same time? But he couldn't have worried about that right now. Sam had to get to safety.

"Sam! Get out of here!"

Danny then felt a punch at the side of his face and he went flying into one of the walls of the restaurant. He groaned and shook his head. He looked over and saw Vlad cracking his knuckles and was smiling at him. Vlad had gotten in the first punch and Danny was furious about it. He flew directly into Vlad's chest and slammed him into the ground. Vlad was dazed and Danny put his left knee hard on Vlad's chest and pressed his right forearm against his throat.

"Listen to me and listen good!" He growled. "You even think about coming towards her again and I will MAKE YOU REGRET IT!"

Vlad just laughed. "Oh I know you will Danny. It's what I'm counting on." He then fired an ecto ray directly into the kitchen. Danny wanted to know what he fired at but it became clear almost right away. The entire restaurant heated up. Vlad had fired directly at the Nasty Sauce container and Danny knew from experience that if that sauce got too hot too fast, kaboom! And judging from the heat he was feeling, it could blow at any second.

Danny immediately stood off Vlad and flew as fast as he could towards the doors and outside. He immediately found Sam about 50 feet away. He knew that wasn't far enough. He went directly towards her and landed in front of her.

"We need to get out of here now! Vlad's fired at the Nasty Sauce, it's gonna blow any second!"

But before they could fly off to safety, he felt the heat at his back and knew the explosion was coming. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed Sam, pulled her as close to his body as he could and turned his back towards the doomed restaurant. Then he focused all his adrenaline and energy into turning both of them invisible.

"Cover your ears Sam!" She complied and seconds later they heard and felt the explosion. Debris went flying everywhere and the loud noise from the explosion had rocked his ears. Once he was sure the explosion had passed, he turned them both visible again and looked her over.

"You ok?"

She shook her head like she was trying to get a stray drop of water out of her ears. "A little shaken and I can't hear very well but I'll be ok. How are you?"

Danny could still feel adrenaline rushing through him. He had a feeling it would be worse when the rush had worn off but for the moment he was fine. "I'm good. Call Tucker for me, I'm gonna check the area."

"Ok." Danny left her where she was and went back towards the nasty burger. Once he was there, he immediately started looking for Vlad. He could have done what Danny did, turn invisible and escape. But Danny didn't think so. He said he wanted Danny and Sam together in the same spot at the same time. The spot had to be the Nasty Burger and he wanted to blow the place up. Was he planning some kind of suicide run?

Before he could think further on this, he felt a punch hit the side of his face and he went flying directly into the ground and it hurt a lot more than hitting the nasty burger wall. He sat up on the ground just in time to see Vlad come flying towards him. He flattened his back and waited for him to get closer. Once Vlad was close enough, Danny threw a kick with both legs that caught him in the chest and he went flying hitting a piece of debris.

Danny followed him determined not to give him time to recover. He flew another kick that hit the evil ghost in the chest. Vlad didn't seem to notice though, because he grabbed Danny's foot with both hands and threw him off to the side. Danny rolled along the ground and only stopped when he hit, what once was, the Nasty Burger door.

The adrenaline rush he felt when the sauce explosion happened was starting to wear off and he was having more trouble getting up. He felt aches and pains all over his body and was having trouble hearing. But he saw Vlad getting ready to fire a series of energy blasts at him and he couldn't just give up. He focused his energy into turning invisible to avoid the blasts. He noticed the blasts going right through him and smashing up more debris.

"Oh Danny. You really should take an energy blast when it's thrown at you. It's good manners."

Danny's eyes flared with rage and turned from green to blue. "Same goes for you." His hand glowed with blue energy and he fired an ice blast right at him. The blast caught Vlad on his arm slowing freezing it and threatening to freeze the rest of his body. Vlad's body glowed with purple energy and the ice stopped spreading leaving only the arm frozen.

Danny was now struggling to keep himself standing straight. He had used up a LOT of energy protecting Sam from the explosion, going invisible and firing ice blasts. The good news was, Vlad seemed to be having trouble too. Deciding this may be his last chance to stop him, he jumped up and flew as fast as his tired body would let him and threw a punch. Unfortunately Vlad caught it. Danny threw a kick that caught the evil ghost in the chest. Vlad retaliated with a punch to Danny's face.

Danny fell to the ground and tried to sweep Vlad's legs on the way down. It worked and Vlad fell to the ground. Danny tried to stand up but his lack of energy forced him to his hands and knees. He was getting really tired of this. He couldn't keep this fight going forever, eventually he was going to run out of energy and transform back to Danny Fenton. After that, he didn't want to think about what could happen to him. He tried to stand up but couldn't. Vlad unfortunately wasn't having the same problem. He looked tired but wasn't as badly damaged as Danny.

"It's about time I ended this Danny. Your time is finally up."

Danny looked up at his enemy. Vlad was standing over him, building up a lot of energy in his hand. This was going to hurt. There wasn't much he could do either. His body wasn't responding to what his brain wanted him to do. He couldn't get up, he couldn't dodge, he couldn't do anything.

"Good bye Danny."

Danny tried again to move but couldn't, at least not in enough time to avoid the energy blast from Vlad. But then a miracle happened. Just as Vlad was firing the blast, Danny saw a human figure jump in front of him and pushed him out of the way. The blast collided with the ground sending everyone flying in various directions.

It took Danny a few moments to realize what he had happened. By some miracle, he hadn't transformed out of his ghost mode and he was groaning as he stood up. He surveyed his surroundings. Vlad was nowhere to be seen, he must have flown off. He looked around for the person who saved his life, if that person hadn't jumped in to help, he would've been ghost roadkill.

After looking around for a couple minutes he found another figure lying on the ground about 20 feet away from where he was. He walked over and felt his blood freeze. Lying on the ground was Sam. She was unconscious and laying on her side, her left arm and parts of her left side were covered in burns.

"Sam, no!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi Everybody! Just a quick author's note before you read the chapter. I know it's been a while since I updated. I apologize for that. Some personal and computer issues got in the way of writing but I'm glad to be writing again and happy to continue Post Planet.**

 **I also wanted to thank everyone who was kind enough to follow, favorite and review my work. It's a good feeling that makes me want to keep writing. Thank you all! Enjoy!**

* * *

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 9

Danny's mind went blank. He saw Sam lying on the ground but something kept him from moving towards her. He didn't know if it was fear, shock or a combination of both.

"D…D…Danny." Sam moaned.

This jerked Danny back to reality. He ran as fast as he could he didn't care how tired he was. He didn't care if he transformed back from ghost to human before he reached her. He didn't care where the hell Vlad was either. He just knew that Sam needed him and that was what needed to take priority.

He reached Sam and took a good look before he tried moving her. Part of her left side and left arms were covered in burns that looked really bad but the rest of her seemed unharmed and she was breathing. Danny carefully placed one hand her head and moved it so he could look at her. Her face wasn't burned but there a couple of cuts.

"Sam." He said. "Can you hear me?"

No answer.

That was all Danny needed to spring back into action. He carefully placed one hand behind the small of her back and the other underneath her knees.

"Hold on Sam." He whispered more to himself than her. He crouched down and then jumped into the air heading for the nearest hospital.

He found it within a few minutes and quickly found the Emergency Room entrance. He flew down, landed and kicked through the doors. Every nurse and doctor on duty turned to look at him.

"There was an explosion at the Nasty Burger. My girlfriend's badly burned. I need help!"

A couple of nurses in scrubs immediately came over. One had even grabbed a stretcher. Once it was in front of Danny, he carefully laid his girlfriend down on it. The nurses immediately went to work and Doctors shortly followed. Danny was informed that they were taking her to be examined and to run tests. All he could do was nod. He was in too much shock to really do anything else.

After they had taken Sam away, Danny felt really dizzy and tired. He fell to his hands and knees, transformed back to Danny Fenton. He had trouble breathing and cold sweat was dripping down from his hair to the floor. He felt awful and was sure he was about to be checked into the hospital along with Sam when he felt something under his arm lift him to his feet. He turned to his right and immediately saw Dash. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Before Danny could really register him being there, much less what he had been doing there, he was steered by Dash into a nearby chair. Once satisified that Danny was properly seated Dash grabbed a sports drink bottle out of his backpack and offered it to the superhero.

"Dude you need to drink something." He said, "You look really pale and this will help you get your energy back."

Danny grabbed the drink from him and promptly drained half of it in one gulp.

"Thanks. But what are you doing here?" He asked. It wasn't that he wasn't ungrateful or anything but it just seemed weird that Dash showed up to the hospital a few moments after he arrived with Sam.

"I was on my way to the gym for a workout and I saw you flying overhead with Sam to the hospital. I called Tucker and he said to tell you he's calling your and Sam's parents and he's gonna be here as soon as can."

Danny was speechless. He didn't believe what he was hearing. Two years ago, Dash would be running as far as possible in the opposite direction of danger. The only exception to this was when the two of them shrunk down to 6 inches and had their own nightmarish version of "Honey I shrunk the ghost kid."

Now he was helping Danny, offering him sports drinks and calling his friends and, strangest of all: he was genuinely concerned about Danny's well being as well as Sam's. When exactly had they gone from being enemies to friends? Sure they were workout partners but Danny never thought of Dash as a potential friend.

"Thanks," Danny said after a few minutes of silence and taking another sip of the sports drink. He turned his head towards the door that the nurses and doctors had taken his girlfriend through. He felt himself going numb and felt more cold sweat. He was scared now. Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz were all experienced ghost fighters but there was a reason he always wanted to fight the stronger ghosts like Vlad on his own. They were powerful and unlike say, the Box Ghost, they were not afraid to use people against him. Danny was always secretly afraid that someone close to him would get hurt fighting ghosts and in two years they had been relatively lucky. But now he was staring at those hospital doors and the very scary reality that he was going to lose his girlfriend.

"No problem." Dash replied, grabbing a drink for himself out of his bag. "But what happened to you and Sam?"

Before Danny could respond to this question, the doors to the waiting room busted open and Danny's parents along with Sam's own parents and grandmother had come in. Sam's parents immediately ran to the reception counter and were yelling at the top of their lungs demanding to see their daughter and threatening to sue the hospital if they didn't.

Danny's mother saw him and ran as fast as possible to him, his father wasn't far behind. She cupped his face in her hands and looked him over. Danny guessed that he looked pale and sweaty. His dad was right behind her taking in his son's appearance too.

"What happened to you?" His mother asked. "You look terrible, Did you throw up? What did you eat at the Nasty Burger?"

Danny would have answered but his father then started throwing questions at him. "What kind of ghost did you fight? Where is it now? Did you get it in a thermos?"

Now Danny was overwhelmed. He still hadn't really known what had happened to him and Sam. His brain was still shifting through the memories of about half an hour ago. What was worse was that Sam was still being examined and tested to determine how badly she was hurt. He knew she was burned but she had been breathing, albeit very weakly, when he got her here. He wanted to answer their questions but he was scared and their questions weren't helping.

"Everyone calm down!" Said a voice that turned out to be Sam's Grandmother. She had moved in her motorized chair closer to where Danny was sitting. His mom let go of his face and stood up to join her husband who put his arm around her.

"Now Danny," Sam's grandmother continued. "I know you're scared right now, we all are, but we need to know what happened or we can't help you or Sam. So let's just take this one thing at a time. "

Danny looked at her. He always knew that Sam adored her grandmother and the two of them had always been really close. When they had started dating, her parents were still skeptical of Danny, and he suspected they always would be. That hadn't been the case with her Grandmother. She supported their relationship from the beginning and Danny knew the older woman had liked him. But Danny had never respected her more than he did right now. She knew what Sam needed right now, hell, she knew what they all needed and it was Danny to try and be calm and they couldn't really do that by hammering him with questions.

Danny drank the last of the sports drink Dash gave him and took a deep breath. He told them about the lunch they were having at Nasty Burger, how Tucker had left and Vlad showed up for a fight about how the idiot tried to kill all of them by igniting the Nasty Sauce and how he shielded Sam from the blast. He explained how the fight continued. At this point though Danny was struggling again. He had reached the point where he was defenseless against a final ecto blast and how Sam had pushed him out of the way and was caught in the resulting blast.

"It took everything I had left in me to get Sam here." He finished, not looking at any of them. Dash then explained how he had gotten here and found Danny on his hands and knees in human form.

"How do you feel Danny?" His mom and Sam's Grandmother asked.

"Better thanks to this." He said showing them the empty sports drink bottle. "I don't feel sick or anything."

"What about Vlad? Any idea where he went?" His dad asked.

Danny shook his head. He was more focused on getting Sam to safety. For the first time in months, he could have cared less about his archenemy. He looked again at the doors where they had taken Sam. He didn't know how long ago they took her back but it was longer than Danny had liked. By now Tucker showed up and had gotten the story from Danny's parents and they were discussing ways to track down Vlad once they knew how Sam was feeling. Dash was sitting next to him on his left, Sam's grandmother to his right in her chair. Sam's parents were talking with lawyers determining their next course of action.

"You doing ok man?" Dash asked him.

Danny shook his head again. The longer he sat there, the more he felt like he was going to have some kind of breakdown. He was also beginning to feel like this whole thing was his fault. If he'd been able to move a little faster or hit Vlad a little harder he would have stayed down and they wouldn't be here now waiting for news on Sam. He felt a hand on his shoulder and found Dash looking at him again.

"I may not know you or Sam very well but I know how tough you guys are, she's gonna make it through this."

Danny tightened his grip on the now empty sports drink bottle. He knew that Dash was just trying to help and he was grateful. He was just scared and with every moment passing by, he just felt worse. The fact that there was no news of any kind didn't help calm his nerves and he was starting to worry about how serious Sam's condition was.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything else?" Dash asked him. "I just want to help you man."

"Actually." Danny replied looking around the room and handing his phone to Dash. "We're missing someone. Can you call my sister Jazz and let her know what's going on?"

Dash, to his credit didn't hesitate, and he took the phone from him and dialed Jazz's number.

"Hello Jazz? This is Dash Baxter. Yeah, it's been a while. Listen, I'm here with Danny, Sam was taken to the hospital and Danny's not doing so well. Yeah, we're at Amity Memorial. Ok, I'll tell him."

Dash hung up the phone and handed it back to Danny. "She's leaving now and will be here as soon she can, maybe half an hour."

Danny nodded and took the phone back from him. He asked Dash to call Jazz for him because he really needed her here. His parents were still new to him being a half ghost and even though they knew Sam was Danny's girlfriend, and they liked her, they just didn't know how much Sam meant to him, Jazz did and she could help him get through this.

The minutes dragged by. Danny was still sitting in the same chair that Dash had steered him into earlier staring at his feet. They still had no news on Sam. Dash hadn't moved either and Tucker moved to one of the chairs close to Danny. Tucker knew better than to try and talk to him. He may not have shown it, but he was worried about Sam too. Sam's parents had given up trying to argue with the receptionist and they were pacing up and down the room along with Danny's parents. Sam's grandmother was still here too but she was glancing up at the clock every few minutes.

Danny was exhausted. He had gotten some energy back thanks to the sports drink but he still spent a lot of it fighting Vlad, dodging debris, protecting Sam and getting her here. He desperately wanted to rest but he forced himself to stay awake. There was no way he was even going to try sleeping until he knew Sam's condition.

Suddenly the doors to the reception room opened and everyone turned to see who entered. It was Jazz. She was quickly greeted by her Parents and ignored by Sam's completely. After saying her rushed hello to her parents, she ran to Danny who stood up as soon he saw her.

She stood in front of him and opened her arms. Danny wrapped his arms around her as tight he could and that was when he felt the tears coming. He began crying, the tears dropping freely from his face into his sister's shoulder. Jazz didn't care though, she hugged her brother close to her and patted his back while he cried.

"It's gonna be ok Little Brother." She said. "It's gonna be ok. What happened?"

Danny didn't think he could live through what happened again. Dash and Tucker seemed to sense this and told Jazz what happened. All the while Danny hugged his sister. However when Tucker got to the moment when Danny found Sam and flew her to the hospital, Danny lost it and began crying even harder.

"This is all my fault!"

"No it's not." Jazz said, still patting her brother on his back.

"What if I lose her?"

"You're not going to lose her. She'll get through this, she's tough."

"I can't lose her Jazz! I love her!"

"I know you do Danny."

"Oh my God!" Danny was quite hysterical now. "I never told her that, I never told her I love her! What if she doesn't know? What if I never get a chance to tell her?"

"Danny, look at me." He didn't move. "Danny, I need you to look at me ok."

He managed to move his head off her shoulder and look her in the eyes.

"Ok, listen to me. This was not your fault and I know Sam wouldn't see it that way either. I know you're scared right now but you really need to pull yourself together for Sam. She will get through this and when she does, you'll be able to tell her how much you love her."

Danny looked at his sister. He was glad that she was here. The only other person who could calm him when he got like this was Sam. "Ok Jazz, I'll pull it together." She smiled and they broke apart.

His minor recovery didn't last long though. At that moment, a man dressed in scrubs and a white coat came out of the doors that they wheeled Sam through earlier. Sam's parents and Grandmother all came forward. Danny took a deep breath and stepped towards the doctor with them. Jazz was right behind him and she gripped his shoulders for comfort.

"Mr. and Mrs. Manson, Mr. Fenton." The doctor said shaking hands with each of them in turn. "My name is Doctor Thomas Jackson. I am the doctor currently on duty and I just finished examining Sam. I have some good news and bad news."

Danny held his breath.

"The bad news is that Sam was pretty badly hurt. She has some minor burns on her left arm and left side and some second degree burns on her left leg. Also a lot of cuts, scrapes, and a minor concussion."

Danny felt his chest tighten.

"The good news is that Danny got her here in time for us to help and I'm happy to report that she will be able to make a full recovery."

Danny lifted his head back and let go of the air he was holding in. He was so happy that he couldn't express it with words. Jazz hugged him from behind, happily clapping her hands across his chest. All the parents were hugging each other. It had to be the first time either one of their parents had made some kind of physical contact with each other. Dash and Tucker were high fiving and shaking hands.

"Can we see her?" Sam's grandmother asked Doctor Jackson.

"Absolutely." He smiled. "Let's start with immediate family, but not for too long though, I want her to get some rest."

The parents all hugged each other again and walked through the doors Doctor Jackson was holding open for them. He reached out to Danny and clapped his shoulder.

"You got her here in time son, any later and things really could have been worse. Good job."

"Thank you." Danny would have said more but he felt so relieved that he couldn't really say anything else.

He turned around and broke out of his sister's hug to hug his parents. He high fived Dash and Tucker. Finally, he hugged his sister again.

"Thank you so much for coming."

"Don't mention it. I'll always be here when you need me. You know that."

"Same here."

"Excuse me Danny." Danny and Jazz separated and turned to the voice calling him. Sam's father had poked his head out from the doors that they had just walked through a few minutes ago.

"Yes sir."

"Sam wants to see you."

He turned to look at his sister. She was smiling at him. "Go ahead but I would clean your face a little first. I'll wait out here and I'll drive you home. I'll tell Mom and Dad to go."

Danny smiled. "Thanks Jazz." He stepped quickly into the bathroom of the waiting room and washed his face of the cold sweat and tear marks. Once finished, he walked back through the waiting room and followed Sam's father through the doors leading to the hospital rooms. A couple minutes later, they reached Sam's hospital room, Sam's mother and grandmother were standing outside the room.

Then something happened Danny never would have expected, Sam's mother hugged him. He was so taken aback that he almost didn't hug her back. But he did.

"Sam told us what happened." She said. "You saved my daughter. Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

"Alright, that's enough of that." Sam's grandmother said after about 30 seconds of hugging. "Get in there and see your girlfriend. We'll give you two some privacy."

"Thanks Mrs. Manson." He said hugging her too before going in.

He opened the door and the scene was the greatest thing he had ever seen. Sam was in a white hospital gown and hooked up to a machine and she had an IV drip. Her left arm and legs were heavily bandaged with gauze and there were random pieces of gauze covering other spots all over her body. But she was sitting up and looking out the window at the setting sun. She never looked more beautiful to him.

When the door opened, Sam turned her head to the noise and smiled at her boyfriend. "If you blame any of this on yourself, I'm going to hit you."

Danny laughed. "Duly noted." He moved over from the door and moved a chair over to right side of her bed and sat down next to her. Once he was comfortably seated, he reached out and started stroking her hair behind her ear with his fingers.

"How you feeling?"

Sam leaned her head into Danny's hand. "A little tired and groggy. My left leg is really numb too."

Danny glanced at her leg. It was sticking straight out and was the only spot of the body that was very heavily bandaged.

"But I'm going to be ok."

He kept stoking her hair over the next few minutes. "You really scared me you know. What happened to staying out of the way or getting to safety while I fight Vlad?"

Sam reached up to his hand with her good right one and gripped it.

"I don't know Danny." She was very quiet all of a sudden. "I felt something, I could just feel that you were in trouble and I had to help. I can't explain it."

"You just felt something?"

She nodded.

He moved closer to her. He was now at the edge of his chair and about 6 inches away from her face. Jazz was absolutely right as always. Sam and Danny may have never said it out loud but their connection was so strong that they never really had to. Now was the time to break that silence.

"I love you Sam Manson."

"I love you too Danny Fenton."

He closed the 6 inch gap between the two of them and kissed her. It was totally different than any of the other kisses they ever shared. It was like their kiss in the arctic. The world around them disappeared and it was just the two of them. All the pain, anxiety and stress he felt in the last few hours completely disappeared. She was alive and would be ok and that was all that mattered.

"Ahem."

They broke apart and turned to see Doctor Jackson standing in the doorway holding a clipboard.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said. "But I'm going to have to cut this visit down, I want Sam to get some rest. You can come back any time during visiting hours starting tomorrow Mr. Fenton."

"Ok Doctor." He moved to sit up. He didn't really want to leave but he suddenly felt really tired and he knew that Sam was in really good hands. He moved in close to his girlfriend one last time and kissed her forehead.

"I got to go. Doctor's orders. Get some rest ok?"

She smiled at him. "Ok. You coming to see me tomorrow?"

"Yep. Good night, I love you."

"Love you too."

He thanked Doctor Jackson and left to the waiting room to meet up with Jazz to get home. He was tired and suddenly starving but he was ok, Sam was ok and that was all that mattered to him.


	10. Chapter 10

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 10

Danny slept incredibly late on the Sunday morning following the attack on the Nasty Burger. Jazz took him home after he saw Sam and he ended up eating an entire pepperoni pizza by himself. Afterwards he crashed on his bed still fully dressed. He would have slept all day if it weren't for his phone.

"Seriously." He grumbled reaching out for his phone on the bedside table. He fumbled around for almost a whole minute before grabbing it.

"Hello?" He mumbled softly, answering the phone and not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"I need you as soon as possible." Said a female voice.

Danny raised his eyebrow. He was way too tired to recognize the voice. Instead of responding right away, he pulled his hand away from his head to check the caller ID. Despite how tired he was, a smile crept across the teenager's face. Having your girlfriend calling you and telling you she needs you is a good feeling.

"What do you need from me Sam?" He asked, yawning and scratching the back of his head.

"I need you to come over and rescue me from my parents. They've been here since dawn and are driving me crazy!"

"What are they doing this time?"

"They're arguing with everyone. Doctors, nurses, even the cafeteria workers! It's really starting to stress me out and I just need you here, Please!"

"Tell you what, you say three little words, you know the ones I want to hear, and I'll be right over."

There was silence over the phone for about thirty seconds while Sam thought about what Danny could mean. Meanwhile the half ghost was smiling. Hopefully she got what he meant.

"I love you."

"Love you too. Hang in there, I'll be there in about an hour or two, alright?"

"Alright."

Danny hung up the phone and went to the bathroom for a shower. Truthfully, he would have gone to see Sam anyway but he really enjoyed hearing "I love you." from her. It was suddenly the greatest feeling in the world. Once done he went back to his room to change into his usual clothes. He was slipping on a fresh shirt when he heard a knock at the door. He turned his head to see Jazz standing there. After she had driven him home from the hospital last night, she had stayed rather than going back to school right away. Danny knew she was staying to keep an eye on him after what happened and he was more than grateful.

"Glad to see you're up. You really hit the sack last night after devouring that pizza."

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, I was pretty drained."

"And not without good reason." She laughed. Danny finished lacing up his Converses and grabbed his wallet from the jeans he was wearing the day before. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I'm going to spend some time with Sam. Her parents are driving her nuts and I know she doesn't like being bedridden."

Jazz ruffled his hair playfully, just like she did when they were younger. "Awww. Look at my little brother being the good boyfriend."

He laughed and pulled his head out from under his sister's hand. In reality, he didn't think he was that great of a boyfriend. Sam may not have thought so but Danny still felt partially responsible for what happened to her. He couldn't stop Vlad fast enough and because he didn't, it put Sam in a situation where she needed to help and it resulted in her injuries.

"Tell you what." His sister said, breaking Danny from his thoughts. "I'm heading back to school in about half an hour. Want a ride to the hospital? Then I can just drive back and you can fly home."

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Sure." He didn't think it was all that necessary because he felt fully recharged and could have easily flown to Amity Memorial and back today but he was also grateful to Jazz and spending a little more time with his sister is always good.

After a quick breakfast 20 minutes later, Danny and Jazz were in her car heading out to the mall to get a few things for Sam while she was in the hospital. The mall wasn't that crowded for late on a Sunday morning so they were able to get everything Danny wanted easily. He picked up two books that he at least thought she hadn't read yet, a digital gift card for movies and music and a raven black teddy bear with a blue bow that Jazz insisted on buying.

"I still think you should have gotten some flowers." Jazz told him as they got back in the car after the shopping trip.

Danny shook his head. "Sam's not a flower kind of girl. Never has been."

"She has a garden."

"Vegetable garden. Trust me, not the same thing."

"Ok, you're the boyfriend."

Danny smiled. He was used to being called Sam's boyfriend after almost eight months of being together but after yesterday, after they said those three words, they were closer and stronger than ever.

They got to the hospital fifteen minutes later and checked in at the reception desk. Jazz had wanted to say hello and stay for a little while before going back to school. Sam had been moved from the room she was in yesterday to a more long term room, hopefully they would find out just how long Sam was going to be in here. They reached her hospital room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Said a voice Danny recognized as Sam's Grandmother. He opened the door and found Sam sitting on a hospital bed, still hooked up to an IV drip and vitals monitor. Her grandmother was sitting close by idly flipping through channels on TV. Sam looked up as soon as the door opened. She smiled and held her arms open towards her boyfriend.

"Thank God you're here!" She happily said as he walked in and hugged her close.

"Glad to know I have that effect on you." He said breaking the hug and grabbing a chair to sit next to the bed. "Things can't be that bad here can they?"

"It's not the hospital." Sam said, "It's my parents going overboard and really stressing me out."

"What are they doing?" Jazz asked grabbing another chair and sitting next to Danny.

"What aren't they doing?" Sam's Grandmother said. "It happens every time Sam gets sick, they go nuts and think they need a miracle cure or something for Sam to get better. All the doctors say she's going to be fine in a couple weeks but they of course disagree. I just got them to calm down and convince them Sam will be fine here."

"They wanted to move me to another high end hospital out of the city." Sam said. "Can you believe it?"

Danny shook his head. He could believe it. Sam's parents were the typical overprotective parents that always insisted they knew what was best their kids. This also meant that they were doing more harm than good. Sam usually put up with their overprotective nature but now that she was in the hospital and recovering, she didn't have a lot of strength to do so.

"Well maybe this will make you feel better." He said holding up the shopping bag from the mall.

"What's this?" She asked grabbing the bag and starting to rifle through it.

"Get well soon bag."

Sam smiled as she dug through the contents of the bag pulling each item out one at a time. Thankfully, Danny managed to pick up the right books since, according to his girlfriend, she hadn't read any of them yet. She chuckled though when she reached the teddy bear. "Really?" She asked, holding it up towards him.

"Yeah." He laughed, grabbing it from her. "I can't be here all the time so he's gonna be here for you when I'm not." He playfully rubbed the bear's face against hers before he gave it back. She grabbed it and set it on her lap. Then she reached for his face and pulled him into a kiss.

"Feel any better?" He asked after they broke apart.

"Yeah much better. Thanks for coming."

"No problem."

Danny and Jazz stayed there for about another hour, talking with Sam and her grandmother. They played a couple card games and caught the end of a movie on TV. As the credits rolled, Jazz announced that she was going back to her dorm and she needed to get some homework done. They all waved goodbye and she hugged both Danny and Sam before leaving. He looked at the clock on the wall by the TV. It was after two. Visiting hours weren't over for another few hours, but his sister's desire to finish homework reminded him that he still had some to do to. Then there was the matter of Vlad to deal with, if the guy was even in the city anymore.

After the explosion at the Nasty Burger yesterday, Tucker released a statement to the public and press saying that his predecessor was now taking top priority. The guys in white were being called in to assist the police with a perimeter around town. The FBI was sending in experts. Even Danny's parents were getting in on the action, having finally been given access to the confiscated equipment. The problem with that was, there was a lot of things to sort and go through so it was going to take time. With all the extra security and work being done, Danny wasn't sure that there was going to be another Vlad sighting anytime soon. If it were him, he would have stayed low.

As the ghost hero thought about this, he eyes focused on his girlfriend sitting up in the hospital bed, one arm wrapped around her new teddy bear and the other holding a book. He smiled at her. At least she was ok and recovering. He didn't want to worry about Vlad right now, with all the extra security coming in, there was no way he was getting near Sam or really anyone else.

After about another hour spending time with Sam, Danny decided, against his own wishes that it was time for him to leave. He still had homework to do and he wanted to check in with his parents and see how they were progressing with the guys in white and FBI. He kissed his girlfriend goodbye and promised that he would be coming tomorrow after school. He said goodbye to her grandmother too before leaving.

On his way home, Danny flew over the crater that was the Nasty Burger. By now though, the place had been quarantined and covered with agents. He sighed, if there was a chance of finding anything here, it was long gone. He turned around and flew home.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" he called out, unlocking the front door and stepping into his home. There was no answer. Maybe they were in the lab and didn't hear him. He went through to the kitchen to grab something to drink. After locating a bottle of fruit punch, the teenager sat down at the kitchen table and found an envelope attached a handwritten note from his mother.

"Danny," He read aloud, for what reason he didn't know. "We've been called in to look at some equipment with the Guys in White. Going to be late, we've left you some money for dinner. Hope you had a good visit with Sam. Love Mom."

He opened the envelope and counted the money inside. Thirty five dollars. That was a lot of money for one person to have dinner. Danny was used to this sort of thing though. His parents would get caught up in work and not pay attention to how much they were giving him. He put the money in his wallet and glanced at the clock. It was a little before 4, a little too early for dinner. He grabbed his backpack from the hallway and peeked inside. He had two textbooks and three notebooks but he really didn't feel like doing homework right now. He needed someone to hang out with.

He texted Valerie and offered but she declined in favor of spending time with her Dad. Tucker was busy working with the FBI and more than likely his parents. Sam was in the hospital so that was out of the question. Danny thought for a few more minutes, then it hit him. He owed a big favor to someone for helping him out yesterday. He took his phone out and dialed another number.

"Hello?" Said a male voice.

"Hey Dash, it's Danny."

"Oh hey Danny. What's up?"

"Not much." He answered, scratching the back of his head. "Look man, I'm all on my own tonight at my place and my parents left me some money for dinner. You up for a hang out with take out? My treat."

"Sure man. You want me to come over now?"

"Yeah, we can order when you get here. You need directions?"

"Nah, I can find it. Your place isn't really hard to find you know."

Danny laughed. "True that. Alright man, see you soon."

"Later."

Danny hung up the phone and went to grab some takeout menus from the kitchen. He also had a fun text conversation with Sam, letting her know he was hanging out with Dash for the night. She had made a joke about him wanting to hang out with him more than her. He was texting her back telling her no chance of that happening when the doorbell rang.

The young man answered the door and found Dash there waiting for him. They shook hands and Danny let him in.

"Hey dude." Dash said once he was inside. "Do you mind if we turn on the Packers game? It's gonna start in a few minutes."

"Yeah sure." Danny replied, immediately grabbing the remote and flipping channels trying to find the game. "I didn't think they were playing today, I thought they had a bye week."

"Nah," Dash said shaking his head and reaching for the takeout menus, "Bye week is next week. They're playing New York this week."

"Giants or Jets?"

"Jets."

Danny laughed. "Oh this will be a cakewalk for the Packers. There we go." He successfully found the game and it looked like it hadn't started yet. "Find someplace you feel like ordering from?"

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Anything but pizza. I ate an entire pie myself last night after I got home. Not really in the mood for any more right away."

"Ok…" Dash replied, holding up a menu from a local deli. "Sandwiches are always good with a football game."

"No arguments there." Danny replied taking the menu from him and looking it over. "At least they deliver. Alright pick out what you want and I'll call in the order."

A few minutes later, he had called in an order for two big sandwiches, turkey and cheese with lettuce for him and ham and bologna for Dash. He ordered drinks too and the food was going to be delivered by the end of the first quarter. They had settled in to watch the game. And he was having a good time. They were yelling at the screen together and high fiving at good plays. Dash seemed surprised that Danny was such a big Packers fan.

"Oh, I've been a fan since I was a kid." He told the athlete once the first quarter was over and the food arrived. "My Grandfather used to come over all the time to watch me and my sister and we would watch the games together."

"Nice man. I think I was a fan right out of the womb."

"I believe that." Danny said to him, handing him a plate with his sandwich and an empty glass for his drink. They poured sodas and sat to watch the rest of the game. They kept talking and Danny was surprised how easily he was getting along with him. It was really no different than hanging out with Tucker or his father. It was around half time when Dash changed subjects away from football.

"How's Sam doing?"

"Pretty well all things considering." Danny answered pouring another soda for himself. "She'll be in the hospital for the rest of the week. They want to make sure the burns heal and the concussion doesn't turn out to be serious."

"Glad to hear it. What about you man? How are you doing?"

Danny leaned back in his seat on the couch. "Much better than yesterday. Sam's safe and recovering. That's all that matters to me. By the way man, thanks for everything you did yesterday. I really needed it."

Dash clapped a hand on his shoulder. "No problem man. I was just glad I was close by."

Danny smiled. "Me too." He was actually glad Dash had been there too, even if it had been just a coincidence. Chalk it up to everything that had changed in his life in the last 8 months. As far as he was concerned, he was now friends with the high school quarterback.

Dash ended up staying for the entire game and they said their goodbyes, promising to hang out again for another football game. By now it was getting late and Danny still had a little homework to finish but thanks to the soda, with its sugar and caffine now coursing through his body, he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. He wound up spending over an hour finishing his homework. The teenager yawned as he put away his finished work and decided to call Sam before going to bed for the night.

"Hey Sam." He called "How you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better than I was this morning. I think my parents may have finally backed off."

"That's good. How long you think that'll last?" he asked chuckling.

"Hopefully more than a day." She laughed. "How about you? How was your date with Dash?"

Danny laughed. "It was not a date, we just hung out and watched the football game. By the way, he's nowhere near as cute as you are, especially when you're holding a teddy bear in your lap."

"Thanks for all that today. For everything you do for me."

"You would do the same for me Sam."

"Yeah I would. You off to bed?"

"In a few minutes."

"Ok. Good night Danny. I love you."

"I love you too Sam. Night"

Danny turned off his phone and crawled into bed. Had he known how bad the next day was going to be, he would have stayed in bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 11

The Monday after Sam had been admitted to the hospital quite frankly, sucked.

He forgot to set his alarm the night before so he would up waking up 45 minutes later than normal. As if this wasn't stressful enough, he flew out of the house so fast that he forgot his bag with his completed homework. By the time he realized this and gotten back to school with it, homeroom was over and he missed 15 minutes of his first period. He tried sneaking into the class without getting his teacher's attention, and he, of course, failed.

"Mr. Fenton." His teacher called out as Danny closed the classroom door behind him.

"Yes Mr. Duncan?"

"Was there a ghost attack this morning?" He asked while several other students snickered.

"No sir."

"Then I will not tolerate your tardiness Superhero or not. Take your seat."

"Yes sir." Danny took his seat and rifled through his backpack looking for his science notebook. The rest of his classes before lunch didn't go much better. He and Sam had half their classes together which meant, that he had to tell their teachers how long she was going to be absent and pass along all her homework. Add in a forced conversation with Paulina at his locker, which resulted in her tossing his Gatorade in his face and he was not happy.

By the time he got to the cafeteria, he was starving, having not eaten breakfast that morning. Danny rarely ate lunch from the school cafeteria. Having a crazed former lunch lady ghost attack the place early in your ghost career would make you want to avoid the cafeteria lunch too. It also didn't help that half the food wasn't edible.

He was finishing the last of the leftover sandwich he and Dash had ordered for the game when he was joined by Valerie Star and Kwon.

"What happened to you?" Kwon asked indicating the red splotches on his shirt.

Danny sighed and reached for his water. "I ran into Paulina before lunch. She demanded I go out with her. I said no, so she grabbed my drink and tossed it in my face."

Star laughed. "How many times have you said no so far?"

"In the last 8 months? Too many to count."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Valerie said "The girl's in denial, she'll get the hint eventually."

"It's been 8 months Val. If she doesn't get the hint now, I don't think she ever will." Danny said.

They continued talking throughout lunch. Danny gave them the update on Sam and was happy to hear that Dash had already told them about what happened and they were genuinely relieved to hear she was doing better. He filled them in on some of the details Dash didn't give them and they congratulated him on a job well done. Danny thought his day was looking up until Star's cell phone beeped and she excused herself from the conversation to look at the alert.

"Uh-oh." She said.

"What's wrong?" Kwon asked her.

Star didn't answer right away. She was looking closer at the alert. After another minute she addressed Danny. "Umm Danny, How many people at Casper High know what really happened Saturday?"

The Ghost teen thought the question was a little strange but he answered anyway. "Sam, myself, Dash, Tucker, A few teachers and now you guys. Why?"

"Because," She said handing him her phone and pointing his attention to something on Casper's website, "This just exploded on Casper's site."

Danny took the phone from her and looked at the site. There was an article on the forums. "I REALLY know what happened to Sam Manson and Danny Fenton at the Nasty Burger." He quickly read the post and by the end of it, he really wished he hadn't eaten.

"How bad is it?" Valerie asked.

"See for yourself." He growled handing her the phone. She quickly read the post and looked disgusted. "That's just gross."

"What is it?" Kwon asked.

"Basically," Danny responded, "the forum says, Sam and I decided to have sex at the Nasty Burger and while we were sleeping together my powers caused the explosion."

"That doesn't make any sense." Kwon said. "If you were at the center of the explosion you wouldn't be here."

"Yeah," Valerie added "and I was on my way to work when the explosion happened, I saw you protecting Sam and Vlad flying off."

Danny didn't show it, but he was grateful for them defending him. He and his girlfriend had put up with their share of rumors about their relationship since Danny revealed his identity and they became a couple. This certainly wasn't the first time they were accused of sleeping together and she was better at brushing of this kind of thing than he was. If Sam were here, she would calm him down and set the record straight but she wasn't here and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with this kind of crap.

"If I find out who started this rumor, they're really gonna get it." He growled as they threw their trash away and left the cafeteria.

"You may get your chance." Star said looking at her phone. Danny turned to look at her.

"You know who posted it?"

"Yeah." She replied. "I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count."

Danny spent the rest of his day in such an angry haze that he didn't remember much of what happened after lunch. There were a few moments that stood out though. He remembered being called into Lancer's office and he told his former teacher exactly what happened on Saturday so the teaching staff knew his side of the story and could take action if necessary. He got a text from Dash before his last period of the day. The quarterback had told him that he was already working on setting the football team straight to make sure they knew the truth. Star, who had his English lit class with him told him that she was doing the same thing with the cheerleaders. He had thanked them for their help but he knew there was really one thing he was going to have to do stop this and future rumors from happening. He would need to confront Paulina on this.

Star had confirmed that it really was Paulina who created the forum and posted it on Casper's site. She had known her former friend's screenname by heart and most students in Casper high recognized it too. Danny wasn't just ticked at his former crush anymore, he was full on angry. It was one thing to annoy him with the constant date requests and random conversations at his locker, he could deal with that, but now she was dragging Sam into it.

He was really starting to wish his girlfriend were here with him. It had barely been one school day but it felt like he was falling apart without her here. She would know exactly what to say and how to handle this. He had considered texting her for advice but ultimately he decided he didn't want to bother her with this, not yet anyway. Instead he remembered the last time the two of them had talked about Paulina. For the first time all day, Danny felt himself smiling. He knew how to deal with this.

The last bell of the day rang and there was the usual chaos that came with a bunch of teenagers eager to leave school for the day. Danny left his desk, saying goodbye to Star and thanking her for help. He reached his locker and grabbed the things he would need for homework and closed his locker. He didn't leave right away though, instead he leaned his back against his locker, waiting for his locker neighbor to show up.

Said neighbor showed up a couple minutes later. "Oh Hi Danny!" She said sweetly like I was waiting for her and even though I was, it was definitely not for the reasons she must have been thinking of.

"Cut the crap Paulina." He said, pulling out his phone and linking it to the Casper High site and showing it to her. "I know you posted this earlier today. Not cool."

"Well, how do you know it was me?" She said in her fake sweet voice.

"Paulina, I'm not an idiot. Star already confirmed it was you and the entire school knows your screen name."

She closed her locker door and turned to face the ghost boy. "Oh I know that Danny. Let me guess, you want me to take the post down. I can do it but on one condition."

"What's that?" Danny asked but he had a feeling he already knew.

"You dump that goth person in front of me, make me your girlfriend and I'll take the post down."

Danny folded his arms and tightened his fists underneath his armpits. There she was, insulting Sam again. This wasn't going to be easy.

"No deal." He said. "You know what? Keep it posted. I know Sam won't care and if she doesn't care, I don't care. While we're at it, you should know something."

"What's that?" Paulina growled. All her previous sweetness had completely disappeared. This was clearly not going the way she wanted.

"This is the last conversation you and I are ever going to have. I'm not going to talk to you anymore. So keep trying to ask me out, keep posting lies on the internet and keep trying to provoke me. I don't care because I love Sam. She loves me too and you can't break that. No one can. Have a good one Paulina."

With that he turned his back and left her standing there. There may be some fallout from this conversation later but for the moment, he was glad that one problem was off the table and something had gone right today.

"You look to be in a good mood all of a sudden." Valerie said catching up to Danny as he was leaving school.

"I just had a good conversation with Paulina actually." He said. Valerie looked shocked.

"Oh, is she going to take down the post?"

The ghost teen shrugged. "Not sure." His friend looked really confused.

"What do you mean?"

"There was something I didn't tell you guys at lunch today. On Saturday night after Sam turned out to be ok and I saw her in the hospital, I well, I told her that I loved her."

Valerie stopped in her tracks. "And what did she say?" She was practically breathless. It was really cool how much of a friend she could be and how invested she was in his relationship.

Danny smiled. "She said 'I love you too Danny Fenton.'"

"Oh my God! She used your full name?" Danny nodded. "Wow. I always hoped you two would end up together but this is a really big step for you guys. How does it feel?"

"It feels amazing." He said. "It's like I can breath easier, smell things better and when I think about Sam, I feel like there's nothing on Earth I can't do. That's why I don't really care about Paulina's post anymore. She's trying to break the connection I have with Sam. Never gonna happen."

"Good for you Danny. I'm serious. You going to see your love this afternoon?"

"Where do you think I'm headed now?"

"Well have a good visit and give her my best."

"Will do."

Danny arrived at the hospital about 20 minutes later, checked in at the reception desk like before and found Sam standing up in bed, reading her book and holding her black teddy bear. She looked up when her boyfriend walked in. "Hey how was your day?"

He kissed her before answering. "Not too bad, started off pretty crappy though." He told her about his morning and first confrontation with Paulina, Sam wasn't happy about that. She was even less than happy when he showed and told her about Paulina's not so secret post on the Casper High website.

"I took care of it though." He told her.

"How?"

"I finally took your advice. I told her straight up that I was going to be ignoring her from now on. Not giving her the attention she clearly wants and maybe someday, she'll back off."

She pulled him in for a kiss. "I'm so proud of you." She said once they broke apart. "I will say that this is pretty desperate for Paulina standards though."

"You would know better than me. But enough about me, how was your day?"

She shrugged. "Pretty boring actually. I'm almost done my book and Grandma was here earlier. At least my parents finally backed OW!" Sam suddenly winced and grabbed her bandaged left leg.

"You ok?" She glared at him. "Sorry standard question. What's wrong?" He grabbed hold of her hand.

"My leg." She winced. The ghost teen immediately ran to the door and called for a nurse. Thirty seconds later a nurse and Doctor Jackson ran into the room. Sam was holding her leg, which was bad because as long as she was holding it, the doctor couldn't look at it. Danny picked up on this and ran to his girlfriend's side.

"Sam. Sam. Listen to me." He said. "They need to look at your leg and they can't do that while you've got a death grip on it."

"Danny it hurts!" She was crying now. Danny suddenly felt beyond helpless. He had all the ghost powers he could ever need but none of them could help his girlfriend right now.

"I know Sam." He said trying to sound calm. "I know it hurts, so just grab onto me. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He positioned himself on the mattress right next to her and grabbed her hand as if to emphasize his point. She noticed this and leaned her head into his chest so she couldn't look at her leg. Danny nodded to Doctor Jackson and the good doctor set to work examining her leg. The nurse was nearby with a tray of tools waiting for instructions.

While he worked, the nurse asked Danny what happened and he explained that they were just talking like normal when Sam felt the sudden pain in her leg. That's when he rushed to the hallway for help. Doctor Jackson poked and prodded at the leg, causing Sam to wince and grip Danny's hand even tighter. After about 15 minutes, he instructed the nurse to grab some medication. Once she was gone, he turned to the teenagers. "Sam I want to give you some pain medication for the leg. You're going to feel sleepy but not any pain. Is that Ok?"

She still had her face planted against Danny's chest. She didn't answer Doctor Jackson but Danny felt her head moving up and down against his chest. "Is that what you want Sam? Do you want them to give you something for the pain?" The nodding sped up. Danny could tell she was saying yes. He nodded towards Doctor Jackson, who took a needle from the nurse and injected it into her IV drip. After about a minute, Danny felt her body relax and her grip loosened on his hand.

He leaned her back against the bed and pulled the blanket over her. She was falling asleep. Once he knew she was out, he sat up and approached Doctor Jackson.

"That was scary." He said.

"You're not kidding. I'm glad you called us when you did."

"What happened?" Danny asked.

Doctor Jackson scratched the back of his neck and looked at the now sleeping Sam. "I can only speculate without doing further testing but my best guess is the burn was infected."

"Infected?"

The doctor nodded. "It can happen in cases with higher degree burns. The problem is that some of them can remain dormant for a few days before discovered."

"How long before you know if it's an infection or not?"

"About a few hours. I'm going to call her parents to let her know what happened and then I'll be examining the leg. I hate to say this but I'm going to need to cut visitor's hours short until I know what caused the pain."

This just sucked. He felt like he just got here and now had to leave. He really felt helpless. "Can I say good night?"

Doctor Jackson clapped his shoulder. "Yeah kid. I'll leave for a minute and give you two some privacy."

Danny thanked the doctor and turned towards Sam. So much for the good mood he was in. Now he was leaving her again while she was in pain. Even though she really was in good hands, he felt terrible. There was nothing he could do to help and he hated that feeling. He pulled her blankets over her body and placed her bear in her arms. Finally, he kissed her forehead. "Good night Sam. I love you. Please feel better."

He left the room and was promised that her parents would be contacted with any news on her condition. This was good because even though he wasn't going to be contacted directly, he knew her grandmother would call him.

On his way home Danny was at a loss of what he could do. The day had gone from bad to good to the lowest level of suckage. Now he was worked up and restless with energy. He wanted to do something but he wasn't sure what. He got his answer when he got home.

He walked inside like he normally did and went to the kitchen for a drink, he didn't feel like eating. When he got there he turned on the TV to catch the news. "And finally we turn our attention to a character who lives in local infamy: Vlad Masters." Danny's fist tightened.

"Vlad Masters is still at large after his attack on the local Nasty Burger last Saturday afternoon. The former Mayor of Amity Park is now officially being treated as a terrorist and any information concerning Vlad Masters should be brought to the attention of the FBI."

He turned off the TV. Danny was angry, angrier than he ever felt in his life. What if there were other people injured in that explosion? Other people who were now in pain on a hospital bed thanks to the crazed up froot loop. Plasmius had to be stopped and the FBI, and the jokes of ghost fighters called the Guys in White had no clue on how to fight him. Danny did.

He found his phone and dialed Valerie's phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Valerie."

"Hey Danny. What's Up?"

"I'm going after Vlad Masters. You want in?"


	12. Chapter 12

Danny Phantom Post Planet, Chapter 12

As it turned out, Valerie was in for finding Vlad. Danny grabbed as much gear as he could carry and put it all in an empty bag. He met his friend at Casper High and agreed that they would begin the search there. They went in opposite ends and wouldn't stop until they had successfully looked through every single corner of town. It was 6 when they started and close to 11 when they finished.

"Anything?" He asked when she dismounted her hover board over the football field.

She shook her head. "Nothing. And I checked everywhere too. I wish I knew how he was giving us the slip."

"If I knew that, I would be sucking him into a thermos right now." Danny growled

Valerie checked her watch. "I need to get home. I've been out too late as it is. You heading out too?"

Danny rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired but he always figured sleep could come later. "No, I'm gonna do one more sweep of a couple places."

"You sure that's a good idea? You look exhausted and that's not going to do much good if Vlad shows up."

"Yeah I know." He snapped. Valerie raised her eyebrow at him. "Sorry. Long day."

"Which is probably a sign that you need some sleep."

"I know you're right Val." He said but he thought of Sam lying in her hospital bed fighting off an infection, or maybe something worse. "But I just can't right now. He's out there and what if he hurts someone else while I'm sleeping or waiting for something to happen?"

"You seemed to be ok with waiting for him to do something earlier today. Did something happen to Sam while you were at the hospital?"

Danny bit his lip. Valerie was his friend and had been friends with Sam too. Maybe she had the right to know what happened. He took a deep breath and told her about his visit earlier that night and how Sam was now fighting an infection with the burn from Vlad's attack on the Nasty Burger.

"That's why I can't just sit around waiting Val. I need to do something."

"I understand that Danny, but you're still half human and humans need sleep and energy and all the things that make us function. I'll bet you anything Vlad's sleeping somewhere too."

"I just wish I knew where."

Danny ended up taking Val's advice and heading home to sleep. But he also set his alarm an hour earlier than normal so he could get some patrolling done before school. He still had homework to do but at this point it wasn't going to get done.

He got home a little after 11:30 and showered before going to bed. He knew it was late but he wanted to try and get an update on Sam's condition before going to bed otherwise regardless of how tired his body was, he wouldn't sleep. He dialed the Manson's home number and Sam's grandmother answered.

"Hi Mrs. Manson. Sorry for calling so late but I wanted to see if there was any change with Sam."

"No problem at all Danny, you have as much right to know as we do. Doctor Jackson says it was an infection in the burn. She's been given some medication to stop it from spreading. And we'll know how well it's working over the next day or so."

Danny rubbed his eyes. He was really starting to feel tired now. At least they knew what was hurting her and she was fighting it. He was suddenly smiling. That was his girl, always the fighter. "Thanks again Mrs. Manson. Sorry again for calling so late."

"It's ok Danny. Go get some sleep. It's a school night."

"Yes Ma'am."

Danny hung up his phone and got into bed. Despite how much didn't want to sleep, he was ultimately glad he did. He felt better when he woke up the next morning. His patrol before school didn't turn anything up. The biggest issue he had to deal with that day was the fact that he didn't finish his homework. He didn't care that much though, his grades were high and steady enough to drop an assignment or two.

After school he checked in at the hospital for an update on Sam. She was fine but sleeping when he called. According to Sam's dad, the infection was still there but it wasn't as painful as before and it didn't seem to be spreading. He would have gone to see her but she was still sleeping and under a lot of pain medication for the infection so he decided to head right home after school.

Against his better judgement and at the insistence of his parents, Danny did his homework the moment he got home. Although he was sure he didn't do a good job and knew he would have to prepare for some after class conversations with teachers later in the week. He didn't care though, if it got him out of the house faster to find Vlad, he was all for it.

After Danny grabbed a quick dinner, he geared up for his patrol and contacted Valerie. They agreed to meet at Casper High like the night before and begin patrolling the city for Vlad or at least some hint of where he could be. The ghost teen flew to the football field and landed, still in ghost form, waiting for Val. After about 10 minutes she arrived but she didn't travel in by hover board like she always did. Instead she came in through one of the side entrances. She wasn't alone either, Dash, Star and Kwon were following her.

"Hey what's up Danny?" Dash asked holding his hand up for a high five. Danny didn't respond to the gesture though, choosing to glare at Valerie.

"What's going on?" He asked still focusing his attention on his armor wearing friend.

"We were all talking earlier today and they want to help. So I agreed to let them know when we were patrolling, and here we are." She said, pulling some gear out of her bag and getting her hover board ready.

Danny looked around at the other teenagers. They all must have just come from football and cheer leading practice because they were all wearing Casper High clothes and carrying book bags. Dash still had his hand up waiting for Danny to return his high five.

"Absolutely not." He finally said. Dash lowered his hand looking disappointed.

"Why not?" Kwon asked him.

"Aside from the fact that the three of you have like zero ghost fighting experience," Danny explained crossing his arms and still glaring at Valerie. "This isn't a grade D level ghost we're going after, this is Plasmius. He's tougher than most of the ghosts I ever fought and you guys could get seriously hurt." He now started looking at his feet. "More than enough people have been hurt by Vlad, I don't want to add you guys to that list."

"We know the risks Danny." Star said crossing her own arms and looking more serious than Danny had ever seen.

"Yeah dude," Dash added. "And we don't plan on fighting him or anything, we just want to make sure you guys cover more ground."

"You don't have to give us fighting gear either if you don't want to." Kwon said. "and we can always call you if we see anything dangerous, Vlad or otherwise."

Danny had listened to their argument but it wasn't really registering with him. All he could think about was Sam lying down on her hospital bed all because she wanted to help her boyfriend. He couldn't let the same thing happen to these guys just because they were his friends.

"Guys," Danny said, moving his view away from his feet to his friends, "I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but…"

"But nothing." Dash had cut him off and was standing in front of Danny now, looking him in the eyes like he was about to wail on him. "Valerie told us that you can't sit around and do nothing while Sam is in the hospital. We feel the same way. We may not know Sam or you as well yet but you guys are our friends now and we want to help dude. You can't do this alone."

Danny thought about this for another couple minutes. He would have to make a decision soon. Finally he sighed and slung his loaded backpack off his shoulders. "I really hope I don't regret this."

Everyone looked excited now at the prospect of helping the one and only Danny Phantom. The ghost hero reached into the bag and grabbed some communicators and passed one to each person except for Valerie, who already had one.

"I'll let you guys help but you need to follow my directions to the letter otherwise I'm benching you."

"No problem. What's the play coach?" Dash asked placing the communicator in his own ear.

"We're each going to take a section of town, Valerie and I are going to check locations Vlad has been known to be at. Star can take the park and the surrounding area. Dash can take uptown and Kwon can take downtown. Val and I will handle the rest. We will all meet back up here after we're done. If you see Vlad or any other kind of ghost, let me know IMMEDIATELY and do not approach him under any circumstances, we clear?"

"Clear!"

After a few hours of searching and check ins every hour, Danny and his team turned up a great big whopping nothing. Every time this happened, the half ghost just got more restless and stressed. Plasimus practically had him on a silver platter while he was out on these patrols and yet he was doing nothing, why?

Everyone apologized to Danny once they had regrouped at Casper High and he told them that an apology wasn't necessary. They had done their best to help and they did follow his instructions. It wasn't their fault his archenemy suddenly got really good at hiding himself. He sent them home a little after 7 and told them that he would call if he needed any help.

"Any other plans for tonight?" Star asked him as he started packing away his gear.

"Yeah, I'm gonna try and visit Sam in the hospital before visiting hours are up. She was sleeping earlier when I checked in."

"You really care about her don't you?"

Danny smiled a little as he zipped up his bag. "Yeah I do. More than I ever really thought I would."

"That's wonderful." She said.

"Alright I'm gonna head out. I'll see you guys later."

"Hey Danny can you hold up a sec?" Star asked. Danny slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to face her.

"Sure, what's up?"

Star started rubbing her arm like what she was going to say was going to be a little difficult. "I don't know if this means much coming from me." She started. "But I'm sorry for the way Paulina has been treating you these last few months. The post yesterday was ridiculous and it wasn't fair to you or Sam."

Danny blinked. He certainly never expected this to come from somebody like Star. As long as he had known her, Star was always Paulina's friend and he had always assumed just as shallow. But then again Valerie was the same way before she decided to start ghost fighting and she had become one of Danny's closest friends. Dash was the same way. Maybe the same could be said for Star and even Kwon.

He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Thanks Star, I really appreciate it and I know Sam would too."

"You're welcome Danny."

"While we are on the subject of Paulina, you mind if I ask you something too?" Danny asked Star as they were leaving the football field.

"Sure."

"Was I ever that bad as her? I mean back in freshman year, was I ever that bad or annoying when I was asking her out or trying to get attention?"

Star didn't answer right away. She chose to remain silent and think about it for a few minutes before answering him. He hoped this was a good sign. Finally she answered him.

"Honestly, No. I mean, you were a drooling idiot."

"Thanks for that image." Danny said laughing and she laughed too before continuing.

"But a lot of guys were like that Freshman year and you eventually took the hint that you and Paulina probably weren't going to happen and you backed off and moved on. Plus there's one big difference between you and her."

"What's that?"

"You never would have resorted to blackmail to get someone to go out with you. I mean that's just low. We all voted her off the cheer leading squad this morning for it, unanimous vote too."

Danny sighed. He knew somehow he was going to be taking the brunt of that decision tomorrow and he realized he really didn't care. Paulina had made her own bed and now it was her turn to lie in it. He thanked Star for the talk and her help tonight and said goodbye before flying to the hospital. He checked in at the front desk but was told he only had about an hour of visiting time left. He went to Sam's room and was really glad to see that she was awake.

"Hey you." He said moving a chair next to her.

"Hey." She said leaning up in her seat so they could talk and she wasn't lying down.

"How you feeling?" He asked interweaving his fingers with hers.

"Better." She said indicating her leg. "I've been asleep most of the time though."

"Sleep is good."

"It hasn't been good enough though." Danny gripped her hand. He was scared again.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm going into surgery tomorrow Danny. They said they need to surgically removed the burned skin. Doctor Jackson believes it will stop the infection."

Danny took a deep breath. He really hoped things wouldn't come to this but it really looked like there was no other option. It just made him hate Vlad even more. How could one person cause this much pain and suffering? The dude really had to be insane, it was the only real explanation, at least he hoped that was it. One thing at a time though, he wanted to focus on Sam right now and get her through the surgery.

"When do you go in for surgery?"

"Tomorrow morning at nine." Danny ran a hand through his her to try and calm his nerves. He always did something like this when he was nervous. Sam noticed it and gripped his hand a little tighter.

"I'm gonna skip school tomorrow." He knew his parents may not go for this but he knew deep down that if he went to class tomorrow, it wouldn't do him any good. He would be thinking about Sam the whole time and even though he already was to some degree. This would be even worse.

"I can't let you do that." Danny shook his head but she kept going. "I'm gonna be ok here Danny. Doctor Jackson is doing the surgery and Grandma will be here."

"Sam, I would just feel better if I were here too. And I want to be here when you wake up."

"Danny…" She started again but he cut her off.

"You would do the exact same thing for me if the roles were reversed. You know that."

She sighed. She knew that he was right. After his fight with the Ghost King, Sam hadn't left his side until he woke up and they weren't even dating then. "Ok." She eventually said. "As long as you're here when I wake up."

"Always." He kissed her good night and left for home since visiting hours were close to over. He would have to talk his parents into letting him skip tomorrow and that wouldn't be easy but he could do it. He crawled into bed that night thinking about everything that happened and hoping it would work out in the end.


	13. Chapter 13

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 13

Danny woke up early the next morning but he really didn't sleep much. He was up most of the night thinking about Sam and how he was going to convince his parents to skip school for a day. Sure, it would have been easy with his ghost powers to just say he was going to school and then fly right to Amity Memorial. But after he revealed his powers to his parents and the rest of town, he had made a promise: No More Secrets. He had kept to that promise and didn't plan on stopping now.

After he showered and dressed for the day, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked down the hall to his parent's bedroom. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Said his mother's voice.

Danny walked into the room and found his mother, already in full hazmat gear sitting at their desk and writing down notes while his father was still in bed and snoring very loudly. She looked up when her son opened the door.

"Good morning Danny."

"Morning Mom."

"You off to school?"

Danny reached up and started scratching the back of his neck. "Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's that?" She asked while gathering up her hand written notes and putting them into a folder.

"I went to see Sam last night at the hospital last night." Danny swallowed before continuing, this was going to be a little harder than he thought. "She's not doing well Mom."

His mom looked almost as scared as he felt. "Do they know what's wrong?"

"Yeah," He answered. "It's her leg. The burn's infected and she's having surgery this morning."

"Oh Son, I'm so sorry to hear that. Can I do anything?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would let me skip school today. I want to be at the hospital for Sam and even if I go, I'll just be worried the whole time."

Mrs. Fenton took a deep breath and looked at her son. He knew what she was thinking of. Between his parents, she was always the one who valued education more and the idea of skipping class for any reason never really sat well with her. Then there was the fact that she liked Sam and was just as worried about her as her own parents.

After a few minutes she looked at the clock on her bedside table and over to the calendar on the wall. Danny looked at it too, he could hardly believe it was already mid-October.

"Did you get your progress report from school yet?"

He nodded and reached into a pocket of his bag and grabbed a piece of paper that was given to him in homeroom last Friday before this whole thing at the Nasty Burger happened. He handed his report to his mom who spent what felt like an eternity looking it over. Finally she addressed her son again.

"It looks pretty good and I know you haven't missed any days yet. One day won't hurt you."

Danny smiled. "Does that mean?"

She smiled too. "Yep. Get to the hospital and I'll call the school. Just make sure you get your homework done too."

Danny practically leapt forward to hug his mother. "I will. Thanks Mom. I'll be home later tonight. I love you." She hugged him back.

"Love you too Son. Thanks for being honest with us."

He said goodbye and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out. He could hardly believe that his parents, well one of them at least, was letting him skip school so he could be with Sam at the hospital. He had some time so he decided he was going to stop by the Nasty Burger site again. The guys in white had pretty much abandoned it once they found nothing. Since then both Danny and Valerie had checked the site thoroughly and they found nothing indicating that Vlad could be around.

He checked around the site in human form. Most of the wreckage was cleaned up and somewhat organized. So far there had been no indications from the owners of the restaurant or Tucker and City Hall on what they were going to do with the property. Although the Mayor told him that he wanted the restaurant back. If Sam wasn't injured, Danny would have agreed. Since the attack, the ghost teen had some strange feelings about the site, but he couldn't explain why.

After walking two laps around the damaged site and finding nothing (as usual), Danny decided to head off towards the hospital. About 15 minutes later, he arrived, checked in and met with Sam and her grandmother at the hospital room. As was the case every time he came to visit, Sam was holding her teddy bear. Her grandmother wasn't watching TV though, she was sitting on one side and they were talking softly. Sam smiled at her boyfriend when he entered the room and closed the door.

"Morning beautiful." He said as he grabbed his usual chair to sit by her right side like he normally did.

"Morning." She replied but she sounded tired. Nevertheless she reached out for his hand and he grabbed it.

"Good morning Mrs. Manson." He said to the elder woman.

"Morning Daniel." She said smiling at him as well. "Thank you for being here this morning."

"No problem. Anything for Sam." Then he turned his attention back to his girlfriend. "How you feeling?"

She leaned her head back on her pillow. "Ok I guess. All the pain is in the leg. My arm feels better and is almost healed." She showed him her arm as if to emphasize how much it healed.

"That's good, how do you feel about the surgery?"

She shrugged her shoulders and gripped his hand a little tighter. "Doctor Jackson is really confident it will help because the infection's spreading again. If it helps, I'm all for it."

Danny gripped her hand back. "If you're good for it, then so am I." She smiled back at him and he could tell she was thanking him even though she never said it. . At around 8:55, there was a knock at the door and Dr. Jackson walked in followed by some nurses who looked ready to put her under for the surgery. Danny kissed his girlfriend's forehead for luck and she handed him her bear to give back to her once she woke up. He and Mrs. Manson left the room so the doctors could work.

A few minutes later, Sam was wheeled to the operating room and Danny and Mrs. Manson were led to the waiting room. The surgery was scheduled to last about 3 hours so they were going to be there for a little while. In the first hour, Danny finished his leftover homework and received a text from Dash telling him that he and the rest of his friends were picking up his homework for the day and they were all hoping for Sam's well being. He thanked them but was bummed that he finished his homework early.

After about half an hour of tapping his feet, Danny decided he needed to stretch his legs or grab a snack or just do something to calm his nerves. He offered to get something for Mrs. Manson but she declined in favor of continuing her crossword puzzle. The vending machine didn't have anything he really wanted to eat or drink so he went down to the cafeteria and wound up paying for some fresh fruit that didn't taste so fresh and an Iced Tea. Once he was done eating he went back up to the waiting room for whatever time that was left before the surgery was done. Danny sat down in his previously occupied chair and leaned his head back for a quick nap.

Shortly after falling asleep Danny woke up and looked up at the clock. He frowned, Sam was still in surgery and would be for at least another half an hour.

"Good morning sleepyhead." Said Mrs. Manson, looking up briefly from her crossword puzzle.

"Morning." He chuckled.

"Danny, do you know a four letter word for fowl that would end in a 'K'?"

He thought about it for a couple minutes before responding. "'Duck'"

"Ahh!" She exclaimed. "Of course. And it does fit. Smart and handsome I see." Danny must have been blushing because she started laughing. "I'm just teasing Danny. We may not show it often enough but we are really glad that Sam is dating someone like you."

Danny was smiling. He knew that Sam's grandmother had always supported his friendship and eventual relationship with Sam but he rarely interacted with her parents and that was because their own daughter rarely interacted with them.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me." He leaned a little forward in his chair. "And I want you to know, I really love Sam and I would do anything for her."

"I know you would Danny and we are more than grateful. Sam feels the same way about you too."

"Really?"

"Oh yes." She said, putting her crossword puzzle down. "You are all she talks about most of the time. 'I can't wait to see Danny.' 'Danny's walking me to school today.' 'Date with Danny tonight, don't wait up!'"

Danny smiled. The funny thing was, he talked about her just as much as she did for him, Jazz could attest to that. He kept talking with Mrs. Manson for another few minutes before Doctor Jackson came out to the waiting room. He was still dressed in scrubs and an operating cap. Danny stood up to greet him.

"How is she?" He asked.

"She's doing fine. The burned skin and infected area has been removed and the infected area has been drained."

"How long before we know if the surgery worked?" Mrs. Manson asked.

"Within a few hours." He said. "We're keeping a very close eye on it so we will know very soon."

"Can we go see her?" Danny asked.

Doctor Jackson smiled. "Yes you can. She is still going to be tired though. Let me lead you back."

Danny and Sam's Grandmother followed Doctor Jackson back to the recovery room. Sam was laying down on a recovery bed. She was drifting in and out of consciousness though. Danny let his girlfriend's grandmother approach her first.

"Hello Sammy. How you feeling?" She said.

"Hi Nana. I'm ok." Sam responded smiling, but she sounded really weak and tired. Hopefully she wouldn't be that way for long.

"Well that's the drugs they put in you to help you." The elder woman said smiling and patting her arm.

"Is Danny here?" Sam asked.

"Guilty." He said moving over to Sam's other side and kneeling down so they were at eye level. He reached out and stroked her hair. "You look really tired." She laughed weakly. "You're just feeling ok?"

She smiled. "Actually, I do feel a lot better than I did this morning."

He smiled back at her. He knew he would have to leave soon since she looked like she could drift off to sleep at any moment. He didn't care though. He was treasuring every second.

"You were here." She said when Danny had decided to stop stroking her hair and sit down. "You were here when I woke up."

"Of course I was." He said. "I promised I would be didn't i?"

"You did." She was really tired now and looked like she was ready to drift off to sleep in a second.

"Why don't you go to sleep Sam?" He said grabbing her bear from his bag and handing it to her. "You look like you could use it."

She grabbed the bear and leaned back in her bed. "Sounds good. Thanks for being here Danny."

He kissed her forehead. "No problem Sam. Have a good sleep."

Sam closed her eyes and she drifted off to sleep holding her bear. Danny watched her breathing start to even out and he knew she was out. He was glad he came today. He felt better and more importantly Sam was starting to feel better. She was tired but he could tell she was better than before. The thought made him smile.


	14. Chapter 14

Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 14

Danny spent the next couple of hours with Sam and her grandmother at the hospital. At around five, they reluctantly agreed that it was time for him to go home and get some rest as well as get something to eat (According to Sam hospital food didn't count) and get started on homework. He texted Dash and they agreed to meet up at the mall so he could get his work.

"I still can't believe your parents let you skip school." He had said handing him a big folder with his work.

"I can be persuasive when I want to be." Danny smirked looking into the folder to see what he had to do tonight. "Did I miss anything at school besides work?"

The quarterback shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. We think Paulina has finally gone nuts though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She was caught trying to vandalize both your and Sam's lockers."

"Seriously?"

Dash nodded and Danny shook his head. Paulina must have been really desperate for attention. He knew that the solution was to ignore her, the problem with that was he wasn't sure how long he could ignore her before she did something like endanger herself or someone else. But he didn't want to really think about that right now, not with homework to do and Vlad still out there.

"And Valerie wanted to know if you were patrolling tonight."

"Not tonight." At this point Danny had practically given up on finding Vlad while on a patrol. Despite the guy's many failings, he was a master of not being found unless he wanted to be. The only other option was to make sure he was prepared in case he happened to show up again. Danny felt that the second option was best.

"Well," Dash continued, "She wanted me to let you know that she will be and I'll be looking around too." Danny stared at him and Dash put his hands up. "Don't worry, we'll let you know if we find something." They said their goodbyes and he went home to do his homework.

Danny spent most of his night sitting in the kitchen with all his homework spread out on the table. He had called Sam at the hospital during a meal break and she was getting better every hour. According to her, she was going to be released around this time next week. Danny was thrilled to hear it and started planning some kind of welcome home date for her in his head. He was wrapping up the last of his work when his mother came in.

"How's the homework coming?"

"Just finished actually." He said, pumping his fists in triumph and stretching out his arms.

"Good job." She said walking to the table and examining his work. "And how's Sam doing?"

"I talked to her a little while ago," He said going to the fridge and grabbing a drink. "She's getting better and it looks like the infection is gone. She said she's going to be released next week."

"That's great Danny!" She exclaimed and holding her arms open for her son. He hugged her back. After they broke apart, he started cleaning up his work and putting it away for school tomorrow. He checked his phone, it was a little after 9 and there were no messages from any of his friends and he didn't get any while he was working on homework either. The ghost teen was starting to feel a little guilty. He was finishing his homework and spending the day with his girlfriend at the hospital, while his friends were risking their lives. The guilt must have been showing on his face because his mother noticed addressed him about it.

"Something else on your mind son?" She asked grabbing some food from the fridge.

He took a breath. "Valerie offered to patrol for me tonight while I was catching up on work. We still haven't found any sign of Vlad. I don't know what to do about it because patrols aren't working."

His mother placed her food down on the now empty kitchen table and sat down.

"I've been worried about that too." She admitted. "You and your friends aren't the only who've been looking for him. The FBI and the guys in white have set up patrols with no results."

Danny sighed. "Wonderful. With so many people around looking for him, it's no wonder we haven't found any sign of him."

"I know and Vlad is the kind of person who won't be found if he doesn't want to. There were times in college where he would disappear for weeks and only came back when he wanted to."

Danny sat down again. This was the first time he heard his mother really talk about Vlad since he disappeared. They never really talked about the guy that much except to give quick status reports and express their mutual disgust for him.

"What was he like in college?" He didn't know why he asked. Maybe he wanted to find some kind of humanity within the guy. After all, Danny only really knew him as a crazed up fruit loop, maybe knowing who he was could give some clue to where he was now and what he was doing or planning.

She ate a little of her food before answering. "He was incredibly smart, easily top percentage of the class. We all had a lot of good ideas but he was only really interested in things he was sure he could make a profit from."

He nodded. "That sounds like him. What happened to him after you and Dad tested the first portal?"

"He vanished and didn't show up again until around graduation. After that, he got successful and we rarely heard from him."

"You never reached out to him?"

"Your father did it more than me but it became clear that things would need to be done on his terms and I wasn't ok with that. Maybe if I tried harder things would be different."

Danny sat up and walked over to hug his mother. "Mom, you can't blame yourself for that. Vlad told me over and over again that he blamed Dad for what happened to him. I don't think anything anyone could say would change that."

"Thank you Danny. You're a good son."

"And you're a good mom. I'm gonna call Jazz and go to bed. Night."

"Night Danny."

He walked upstairs towards his bedroom dialing his phone for Jazz's number as he walked. His sister was a top psych major after all, and she knew Vlad just as well as he did. If anyone could get an idea of what a crazed fruit loop might be planning next, it was her.

His sister answered the phone by the time he reached his room. Danny expressed his concerns and a little of his guilt over the fact that nobody could find Vlad. Like his mother, Jazz felt that Vlad was the kind of guy who wouldn't really be found unless he absolutely wanted to be. Things became a little strained though when she asked him to recount the fight at the Nasty Burger. Mostly because it was something he really didn't like repeating it.

"And you're sure he said 'Two of you?'" She asked at one point in his story.

"Positive. Why?"

"I think I have a plan to lure him out. It'll have to wait until I get home this weekend though. Think you can wait?"

Danny looked at his calendar. It was Wednesday and Jazz would be home on Friday but not likely enacting on it until Saturday. He was ok with that.

"That's cool. But if he makes a move before then, I'm gonna have to do something about it."

"Understood. Night little brother, I'll see you this weekend."

"Night Jazz."

He hung up the phone and yawned. At this point he was really tired. It had been a long day and he wouldn't likely get permission from his parents to skip school again so he might as well get some sleep. He fell asleep early thinking about all he talked about with his mother and sister. He was starting to hope that Vlad would show his face again so he could be locked away, hopefully for good.

He woke up the next morning feeling well rested but he wasn't looking forward to school. Danny had always been one of the average students. A guy who didn't hate school but never exactly liked it either. He ate and left for school, though he wished he could have still had Tucker with him at least. Ever since he became Mayor, he was being privately tutored. Danny had missed his best friend, especially now without someone to talk to in the mornings.

Danny reached school with plenty of time to spare and was happy to hear that Paulina had been suspended for vandalism. At least it was one less thing for him to have to deal with today. He handed in all his homework and some of his teachers were impressed with how well he had done on it. He had lunch with Valerie, Star and Kwan again and they filled him in on what happened while he was in the hospital for Sam's operation.

The biggest news was that Paulina had been suspended and it was Star who turned her in. Lancer didn't take kindly to the attempted destruction of school property and she would out of school for a while. Apart from that nothing really happened at school and there was still no news on Vlad. After that he gave them an update on his girlfriend's condition and when she would be leaving the hospital. Valerie and Star wanted to throw some kind of party but Danny stopped their planning in the dust.

"I'm sure Sam would appreciate it you guys but I was really hoping to do something for just the two of us once she was out."

The girls swooned. "Just what did you have in mind for your girlfriend?" Valerie asked. She seemed unable to contain her excitement.

Danny felt himself going a little red. "Nothing real exciting. Just her favorite dinner and a night of her favorite movies."

"That seems way too simple." Star said folding her arms, the disapproval in her tone was evident.

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Sam likes it simple. She gets enough big fancy dinners and stuff with her parents."

"Well whatever you do, I'm sure Sam will like it." Kwan said, tossing away his trash. "You always seem to know what she likes and vice versa."

"Yeah," Valerie added, "You're a good boyfriend. Don't let anyone except Sam tell you otherwise."

"Thanks guys."

Danny left for his afternoon classes and spent the rest of the day pretty much like every other school day. He had some trouble paying attention largely because he was thinking about his new friends. They genuinely invested in helping him and were concerned for him and his girlfriend's well being. He had to do something to thank them and he think he had an idea.

After the last bell, there was the usual rush of chaos in the hallways and once it died down Danny had contacted his parents on his new idea with his friends. They were ok with it. Afterwards he sent a group text to Kwan, Star and Dash telling them to meet him at Fenton Works after they were done with all their practices. He then told Valerie he was planning on patrolling a little later than normal. She just said she would start and she would report in if she found anything dangerous.

At around 6 that night, the doorbell rang and Danny answered. Just like he predicted, his friends had all come fresh from practice in Casper High gear.

"Not that I don't like hanging out with you Danny." Dash started saying once he entered the house behind Star and Kwan. "But why are we here when we should be helping Valerie with patrols."

"Because it's time to make you guys a little more effective."

"What do you mean?" Star asked.

"Just follow me."

He led them to the lab where his parents were waiting. There was a lot of equipment and safety gear lined up. His parents were cheerful and said hello to his friends before Danny started talking again.

"Here's the deal guys, Vlad is still out there and I'm thankful for the help you're giving me on patrols so we're gonna teach you how to use some ghost hunting weapons so you can defend yourselves."

"I thought you were against us using weapons and stuff." Kwan said.

"I was and in some ways still am especially where Vlad is concerned." Danny admitted. "But I also really don't want you guys to get hurt and you can't really fight a ghost using your bare hands so here we are."

Dash clenched his fists and started walking towards the weapons. "Happy to help buddy."

Danny and his parents spent the rest of the night teaching his friends how to properly work the weapons and defense equipment. It was no surprise that Dash and Kwan had picked it up fairly quickly and Star needed some more work, but she was determined to get better. At around 8, Danny decided to head out and join Valerie on patrol. His parents were fine with staying and helping his friends but told him to be back by 10 for curfew.

Danny flew out and began checking out some of the places that Valerie hadn't checked yet. He checked back in with Valerie around 9:30 just before his curfew was up. Like so many nights before, there was nothing that either one could really report. He told her about his conversation with Jazz and she was brewing a plan that would hopefully trap Vlad. After their meet up, Danny went home and said one last good bye to his friends before doing homework and going to sleep.

Jazz was waiting for Danny when he left school the next day. She offered to drive him to the hospital to check on Sam since the two of them were best friends and she wanted to hear his girlfriend's side of the story behind the Nasty Burger to finalize the plan.

They met with Sam, who honestly looked MUCH better than she ever did while in the hospital. Jazz questioned her about the attack and got as many details as possible. After the last question, Jazz stayed quiet for a while thinking. Finally she spoke up.

"I have a plan. But I don't know how much you're gonna like it Danny."


	15. Chapter 15

_So, Yeah, it's been a while since I've updated this story and I know a lot of you have been patient and I thank you for that. The reason for the delay, has been some personal issues that needed to be worked out along with starting a new job and in general having a lot on plate to deal with. Adulting sucks. Anyway, thank you all again for your patience. The plan from now on is to update the story on a biweekly basis. We are roughly at the halfway point. Thank you again and enjoy!_

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Danny Phantom Post Planet Chapter 15

"You were right Jazz. I don't like the plan." Danny said, glaring at his sister.

Jazz had just finished explaining her plan for luring Vlad out of hiding and to say that Danny didn't like it was an understatement.

"Danny, what other options do we really have?" Jazz asked him. "Do you really want to just patrol every night until you happen to come across him?"

Danny shook his head. "No, but there has to be some other way that doesn't involve you or Sam or someone I love getting hurt!"

Jazz spoke up again trying to keep her voice calmer than her little brother's. "Maybe there is Danny, but considering what's been going on, wouldn't you rather get him sooner rather than later?"

"What do you think about this?" Danny asked his girlfriend. Sam had listened to the whole conversation so she heard Jazz's plan but she hadn't given any indication to if she approved or disapproved of the plan.

Sam took a deep breath before answering. "I think the plan is solid." She said looking at Danny carefully trying to gauge his reaction. "But there is a lot that could go wrong with it if it's not done right Jazz."

"I realize that Sam. But again, what other options do we really have?"

Danny leaned back in his chair and folded his arms thinking about Jazz's plan. She had wanted to use herself and himself as bait at the old and ruined Nasty Burger as a way to bring Vlad out of hiding, giving Danny and his friends a chance to get the jump on him. He was the first to admit that it was genius in its simplicity but like Sam said, there was a LOT that could go wrong.

"There has to be some other way." Danny said staring at his sister. "The last thing I want is to see you in a hospital bed like Sam or worse. No offense Sam."

"None taken."

"I see your point. Both of you." Jazz said, turning her head from Danny to Sam and back again. "But living in fear of Vlad isn't going to do you or anyone else any good."

Danny leaned forward in his chair, glaring as hard as he possibly could at Jazz. "What did you say?"

Jazz stood to face her brother. It had been a couple years since she was more than a head taller than him, but she never backed down from her brother. "You heard what I said."

"Yeah, I did." Danny replied, clenching his fists. "And you really think I'm scared of him?"

"Danny calm down." Sam had reached out her hand to grab one of his but he ignored it.

Jazz crossed her arms over her chest, she was ignoring Sam too. "Based on what you and Sam have told me, I think that's exactly what you are. You spend half your time patrolling for him and when you do find him, you let him get the best of you."

"Jazz, I don't think that's fair." Sam said, sitting up straighter and crossing her own arms. "Danny has spent just as much time going to school and here with me."

"Stay out of this Sam." Danny snapped taking a step towards Jazz. "Let me make something clear. I have not, nor have I ever been scared of Vlad Masters."

"Danny," Sam said and he turned to face her. "Your eyes."

Danny looked past his girlfriend and saw his reflection in the hospital room window. His eyes had turned from blue to green, like they normally did when he got angry. It hadn't happened very often since he was usually in control of his emotions. Jazz must have really touched a nerve.

He took a deep breath and his eyes turned back to their normal shade of blue. "I'm gonna take a quick walk." He said. "I need to stretch my legs. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Before his sister or girlfriend could respond, Danny was already out the door and walking through the hallway with his hands in his pockets and staring down at the floor. He probably shouldn't have just left the room like that because he was upset with his sister. But that wasn't what was really bothering him. Was he really scared of Vlad?

He stopped walking and would up leaning his back against the wall next to some vending machines. Now that he actually thought about it, Jazz was partially right. But Danny wasn't scared of Vlad, he was scared of what Vlad represented. Vlad was a constant reminder of what Danny could become if he let himself lose control. Danny had developed his fair share of enemies since he got his powers. Skulker, Ember, Technus, the Fright Knight and God knows how many others. He could easily fight them because there was one huge difference between them and him: He was still human, they weren't.

Despite very loosely fitting the definition, Vlad was still human. It was something they had in common but unlike Danny, he used his powers to try and cheat his way into getting everything he wanted. Sure, Danny had used his powers to play the occasional prank or get revenge on Dash, but overall he just didn't think the way Vlad did. His parents had raised him better than that and he had people like Sam in his life to hit him over the head with a good sense of humility when he was close to the edge.

He bought a candy bar from the vending machine and made his way back to Sam's room, eating as he walked and trying not to think about Vlad. He tried to think about Sam, but even that led back to Vlad. She was going to be released soon and Vlad had already attacked him while Sam was nearby. The fruit loop already knew Sam was at least a close friend, what if he went after her when Danny wasn't there with her? He tossed the now empty candy bar wrapper into the trash and walked back into Sam's room.

Sam and Jazz were talking back and forth but stopped when they noticed that Danny had entered the room.

"Hey guys." He said, closing the door behind him. "Jazz, do you mind if I talk to Sam alone for a few minutes?"

His sister rose up from her seat. "Sure, I'll be in the cafeteria trying to track down a decent meal."

"Good luck, it doesn't exist." Sam called after her.

Danny waited until his sister left before he tried to address his girlfriend again.

"You want to talk about the plan?" She asked him.

He nodded and sat down next to her in his usual spot. "I'm honestly torn Sam. I really want to see Vlad behind bars before you get out of here but I don't want anyone to get hurt."

She reached out her hand and he grabbed it. "I see where you're coming from, it's not an easy choice to make."

"What do you think I should do?"

She sighed and looked at him. "What do you think is the right thing to do?"

"I think the right thing to do is stop him before someone gets hurt or worse."

"Then go forward with the plan. Jazz is really smart Danny, if you tell her to follow the plan to the letter, she'll do it."

He smiled. He sometimes forgot how well Sam knew him. There were so many times, even before they became a couple, that Sam seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and vice versa. She had always given him good advice even when, especially when, he didn't want to hear it.

"Thanks Sam."

She smiled. "You're welcome. What are you going to do?"

"I guess I'm going to have to go ahead with the plan no matter how much I don't agree with it. But if it gets Vlad behind bars before you get out of the hospital, I'm not gonna complain."

"Good man. I have to tell you, I'm starting to get a little tired."

"Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Sounds like a good plan." He kissed her good bye and she leaned back in her bed, Danny covering her with her blanket.

He went down to the cafeteria to find Jazz since she was his ride home. He found her sitting at one of the tables using a fork to poke at what looked like a piece of lasagna. The only difference was it was pale yellow and partially green.

"You gonna poke at it or actually eat it?" He asked as he sat down across from her.

"I want to determine if it really is edible before I even try to eat it." She replied, cutting off a tiny piece of the food and looking at it closely. After another minute, she put the piece in her mouth, only to immediately spit it out. Danny laughed. "Nope, definitely not edible." She said, putting down her fork and wiping her tongue and face with a napkin.

Danny kept laughing. "Yeah, although I could have told you that. You should be ok with the fruit though. I had some the other day and it wasn't completely terrible."

"To be honest, I never thought I would actually miss my school's cafeteria food."

"It's that bad?"

She shrugged. "Yes and no. Some of the food they cook is fine but the majority of it is terrible."

Danny laughed again and watched as his sister pushed aside the lasagna and dug into the small bowl of quote, unquote fresh fruit. He watched as she took a tentative bite and apparently satisfied, continued eating. He thought about how much their relationship improved since she found out about his powers. She trusted him enough to let him tell her about it in his own time, she covered for him with their parents, offered valuable advice and even fought side by side with him.

"Hey" He said, bringing her attention to him instead of the food. "Sorry for snapping at you earlier. I've been on edge since Sam's been in the hospital."

"I know," She said, throwing her trash in a nearby can. "I get it Danny, that's why I really want to help."

"Well I'm telling you now, we're going to rework the plan, and you'll need to follow it to the letter. As you know, the last thing I want is to put someone else in the hospital or worse."

"I got it. Have I ever not followed one of your plans?"

Danny stood and crossed his arms. "You really want me to remind you of the last time the two of us faced off against Vlad?"

Jazz grabbed her purse and started looking for her keys to the car. The last time they fought Vlad together, it took some time for her to get onboard with the plan and set it into motion. It did eventually work but Danny had honestly taken more bruises than he should have.

Jazz finally found her keys and they left for the parking lot. They finally reached her car before she said anything. "I know you're the ghost expert Danny. I just want to help."

"I don't doubt it Sis. That just means we do things my way. And that includes putting Mom and Dad in on this too. I made a promise and I want to keep it."

Jazz groaned. Danny knew what she was thinking. It was hard enough to get him onboard with her idea. He couldn't imagine how hard it was going to be to get his parents on board with it.

Danny and Jazz picked up a pizza on their way home and spent most of their Friday night brainstorming and reworking Jazz's plan. Valerie was eventually called in for her input and after several hours and another couple pizzas, managed to get the plan into a spot where everyone was happy.

"I still don't like the idea of using Dash, Kwon and Star for this." Danny said, reaching for one of the last pizza slices. They had discussed using his other friends as backup as a contingency plan in case something went south and Valerie and Jazz thought it was a good idea. Since Danny disagreed, they voted and he was outvoted.

"The thing I'm most worried about," Jazz said, finishing the last of her soda, "Is that whether or not Mom and Dad are going to agree with this."

"I think they will." Valerie said, clearly confident in the work that they did that night.

"And even if they don't," Danny said, wiping pizza grease off his face. "We're going to move forward with this." Jazz raised her eyebrow at him. "I said I was going to let them know what we were doing, I never said we were going to be asking for permission."

Valerie glanced at Danny's bedside clock. It was after midnight. "Either way, I think we should present it to them in the morning. I need to get home." She stood up and grabbed her book bag.

"I'll walk you out." Jazz said, standing up as well. "And you need to get some sleep Danny."

He wasn't about to argue. He had been up most of the day and was constantly moving around. He waited until the girls were out of the room before he cleaned up the leftover pizza and headed to his bedroom. He changed into pajamas and went to bed.

He woke up the next morning at around 8 am. He showered and dressed before waking up Jazz and telling her that they needed to speak with their parents about the plan. They found them in their lab, working on some data from their scans from the last fight he had with Vlad.

"Morning guys." Danny said, by way of greeting.

"Morning Danny. Morning Jazz." Their mother said, looking up from her screen and noticing them as they walked down the stairs.

"What's up kids?" Their dad asked, pulling away from his desk and standing up to stretch.

Danny looked at Jazz, then to his parents and back again. His sister nodded, letting him know that she was on his side. He took a deep breath and began to speak. He told them about Jazz's plan to lure out Vlad and stop him once and for all, how they spent most of last night reworking it and how he wanted to go through with the plan no matter what. After he was done, there was a lot of silence.

"That's quite a plan there son." His mother finally said.

"It's downright crazy." His father put in. "Vlad's not gonna fall for this. Absolutely No…"

"No offense Dad." Danny said cutting him off before his father went into a full on rant. "I've been fighting Vlad much longer than you. Jazz and I know how he thinks and we know this will work."

"Danny, you don't know Vlad." His father said, standing up to his full height.

"Clearly, you don't either!" Danny yelled. He and Jazz were afraid this was gonna happen. When Vlad had revealed himself as a supervillain, their father was the one who had taken it the hardest. He had always seen the guy as his old college buddy and learning that he was a raving egomaniac had been hard to swallow. Add to that the reveal of Danny's secret not long afterwards and it was not hard to see why his father spent much more time working in his lab these days.

Jazz grabbed her brother's shoulder and their mother put herself between Danny and his father to prevent a fight.

"Jack, Let me handle this. You need to calm down." His mother said, glaring at Danny and motioning for his father to sit down. She waited until he was seated before addressing her son. "Danny, we're grateful for you sharing your secret with us. I know you can take care of yourself and you're more than capable of fighting off ghosts, but this isn't an ordinary ghost."

"I know mom that's why…"

"Let me finish." Danny fell silent. "The point is that we want to catch Vlad just as much as you do and we want you you to be able to trust us."

"Mom, I do trust you. And Dad."

"Clearly not enough to let us help you in the planning stages of this whole thing."

Danny felt incredibly guilty. He hadn't thought of that. Vlad was their parents' best friend. Of course, they would want a say in how he should be brought in. Had he been wrong to deny them that? He turned to his sister. Based on the expression on her face, she was thinking along the same lines.

"Mom." Jazz said, drawing everyone's attention to her. "We're sorry for not including you and dad in on this. Like Danny said, we do trust you guys, that's why we wanted to get your input on this before we went forward."

There was another long silence before either of their parents answered. Finally their mother spoke up.

"I can't speak for your father, but I think that the plan you two came up with is solid."

Danny felt a small wave of relief hit over him. They were halfway through. Now they just needed their dad's approval.

"What do you think Dad?" Jazz asked, trying to break the silence that came up again after their mother spoke.

Jack Fenton stayed silent for a long time. He was clearly thinking everything over before coming to his final answer.

"I really wish you had included your mother and I in on this Danny. And you've clearly gotten to know Vlad better in a little over a year, than your mother and I have in almost 20. When did you want to go forward with this?"

"Tonight."

"What can we do to help?"


End file.
